Sleepless in Gaza: 90 films in 90 days

"Sleepless in Gaza...and Jerusalem" is a video diary about young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, living in Gaza, Jerusalem and the rest of The West Bank. We will make 90 films in 90 days, non-stop, no scripts and no intervention! The idea here is to show you the real life of Palestinians through the daily activities of the Sleepless Girls! The First Thirty Films!PINA TV Production camera crews have been following Ashira Ramadan, a broadcast journalist and Ala' Khayo Makari the accountant of Caritas, a Catholic Charity in Jerusalem.

In Gaza, Nagham Mohanna is a print journalist and film maker who has been the main active personality since her work takes her all across the Gaza Strip for stories; Dona Maria Mattas, a 17 year-old student at the Holy Family School in Gaza who dreams of growing up to be a journalist has been less active because of High School exams and so was Berlanty Azam, a recent graduate of Business Administration. Gaza only has a bit more than 2000 Christians in a population of 1.7 million! We have found the Sleepless Christians in Gaza to be more at home than out and about.The Next Sixty Films!Be introduced to more Sleepless Girls! Yes, we will now follow other girls to ensure that all doors into the real life of Palestinians are open!

In the West Bank Diana Alzeer is the Media Officer of the Palestine Network, a network of thousands of people all over the world! She is the client of Ashira and has appeared in 3 films already. She used to be the weather girl at Falasteen Al Ghad TV which has been waiting for Israel to release their gear for 7 months and is still not on the air.

Yara Al Amleh, a radio reporter working at Ajyal Radio in Ramallah. She studied English Literature in Syria but chose to be a reporter. Yara is very active in covering the "inside stories" and we chose to follow her to uncover some of the facets of Palestinian life that Ashira and Ala' are not active in. We also expect that Diana will do the same.

From Gaza, we have Farah Abu Qasem, a student at the University of Palestine, and Eman AlBelbeisi; an English teacher at Al-Azhar University.

The intention of this series is neither rant nor rhetoric. It is rather an opportunity for those who do not live in Palestine to grasp how real people live out their daily lives, precisely because their lives are stories that journalists are too often told by their editors to think of almost dismissively as human interest and almost necessarily conflict driven.
"Sleepless is Gaza...and Jerusalem" documents how --as human beings -- Palestinians can also experience moments of personal and community achievement, and the warmth of friends and family that in real life is possible even in the most difficult circumstances of siege and occupation.

The series launched on Monday March 1st and will continue nonstop until we have made 90 films for you. This is not a scripted or storyboarded documentary. It's a video diary of what is goes on in the lives of the Sleepless Girls as it happens, when it happens. Along with potential restrictions of movement, the films are screened, edited to around 26 min, subtitled in English when it is necessary, and somewhat painfully, as in time consumed, uploaded to You Tube. So we cannot predict when the day's report will be on your screen. Just keep checking with us here at YouTube and at the Sleepless in Gaza Facebook group where we will hear you out, answer your questions and even give you a teaser on the film of the day before it is up.
We had planned to rest on Friday but it never happened and so far we have been taking out "Special Editions" out of the West Bank or Gaza and will continue to do so!
Please note that we, including the Sleepless Girls, read every comment you post here and on Facebook even if we don't reply. Thanks to all who have engaged with us, your comments keep us going!This not-for-profit series is produced by PINA TV Productions for Radiant Circle.
Director: Ramzi Khoury, Executive Producer: Abdallah Schleifer, Director of Photography: Walid Sababa, West Bank Producer: Samar Stephan, Gaza Producer: Jibril Abu Kmeal, Online Editor: Raed Jaser, Offline Editors: Raed Khoury & George Barham, Cameramen: Raed Khoury, Nibal Hijo, Nader Babers & Khalil Khader, Camera Assistant: Mansour Zogra, Soundman: Ahmad Abu Kmeal, Music Composer: Raed Hawileh, Graphic Designer: Jalal Najjar, Assistant Producers: Naser Najjar & Tagred Baleha.
We can be reached at: SleeplessinGaza@gmail.com