Iyad Alasttal

Iyad Alasttal
Iyad Alastall in 2025
Bornc. 1987 (age 37–38)
Khan Yunis, Palestine
Occupationfilmmaker

Iyad Alasttal (born c. 1987) is a Palestinian filmmaker from Gaza living in France.[1][2][3] His documentary films include Razan, une trace du papillon (Razan, a trace of the butterfly), the story of Razan al-Najjar, a paramedic from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) who was killed in June 2018 by an Israeli sniper during the Great March of Return.[4][5] He also collaborated with French filmmaker Roland Nurier, who was barred from entering Gaza, on filming footage for Yallah Gaza (2024).[6]

Born in Khan Yunis, Alasttal received a scholarship from the NGO Corsica Palestina to study cinema in Corsica at age 24.[5] His first documentary was about a woman named Salouah, a school bus driver in Gaza.[5]

Since March 2019, Alasttal has led the initiative Gaza Stories, a multimedia project in French and English showing daily life in the Gaza Strip.[6]

After escaping an attack on Rafah by Israel in February 2024 during the Gaza war, Alasttal moved with his family to France, where he continued to report on the conflict in Gaza.[3] In November of that year, he received an award in Switzerland from the NGO Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which monitors attacks on journalists worldwide.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Gaza sous les bombes redoute une attaque au sol". Le Monde (in French). 10 October 2023. ProQuest 2874165950. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  2. ^ Hobeika, Joséphine (13 November 2023). "« Yallah Gaza », dans les cinémas européens pour montrer la vie « avant le 7 octobre »". The Orient on the Day (in French). Beirut. ProQuest 2889251220. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "Palestinian journalist in exile Iyad Alasttal receives international award in Switzerland". CE Noticias Financieras. 20 November 2024. ProQuest 3131736854. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  4. ^ "Une soirée de soutien à la cause palestinienne". Le Parisien (in French). 9 November 2018. ProQuest 2131513446. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Mechaï, Hassina (24 November 2019). "Another way of talking about Gaza". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  6. ^ a b Mohamed Abi Sambra (4 February 2024). "Yalla Gaza: French documentary shows beauty of Palestinian resilience". Al Majalla. Retrieved 24 March 2025.