In 2014 young Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly is visiting a film festival in the Norwegian city of Tromsø when the borders to Gaza close. He finds himself stuck in the arctic winter. At the time, Mohamed doesn’t know that it will be seven years before he can see his family again. In the film he shares his longing for his hometown, friends and loved ones, while at the same time he tries to create a new life beyond the Arctic Circle – this calls for perseverance, patience and peer support. Life is Beautiful is a love letter to Gaza, to his new home in Tromsø and the power of compelling storytelling.

Mohamed Jabaly received the Best Director award at Amsterdam’s international documentary film festival IDFA for Life is Beautiful. In his director’s statement for the IDFA he reveals: “I called my film Life is Beautiful, because even though at the moment it isn’t, it is what I hope and choose to see and believe. That in the end, life will be beautiful. I don’t want to make another film about war. [..] I want to be heard. Because now that everything has been destroyed, what is left are our stories and freedom of expression.”

In Arab, English and Norwegian with subtitles in Latvian and English.