Slought is pleased to announce Ambulance (2016), a film by Mohamed Jabaly that provides an intimate account of the last war in Gaza from the perspective of an ambulance crew, on Monday, April 15, 2019 from 7:00-9:00pm in the Mediatheque. The program, co-presented with BlackStar, will begin with a screening of the film, and will be followed by a discussion with director Mohamed Jabaly and BlackStar's Program Director Nehad Khader. Please note that the film features graphic images and scenes. This event has been organized in conjunction with The Image-Event: A Joint Struggle, an exhibition revisiting the photographic archive of the Activestills Collective, on display through April 30, 2019.

Ambulance provides a raw, first-person account of the last war in Gaza. Mohamed Jabaly, a young man from Gaza City, aspires to make films despite the lack of water, electricity, and closed borders that are part of every 'normal' day under the 7-year Israeli blockade of Gaza. As he looks for his place in a country under siege, where at times there seems to be no foreseeable future, the war begins. Jabaly decides he cannot merely 'wait for death' and joins an ambulance crew to document the violence.

Mohamed comes of age among broken bodies, terrified families, and the constant risk of sudden death. He has never witnessed the effects of violence up-close, yet within the first days of the war, he finds himself helping victims of a massacre. When four 9-year old boys are hit by a missile on Gaza Beach, they are one of the first crews on the scene. The turning point comes when Jabaly and his team are hit by a bomb while inside a building. Abo Marzouq, the captain of the team, is injured, and Mohamed struggles with despair and the urge to run away. To make the film, Jabaly must work through events and images of unprocessed pain, ultimately hoping that a human connection can be made with his viewers.