Yalla Parkour

In Gaza, parkour becomes rebellion. A filmmaker follows one athlete's leaps through ruins, memories, and an aching desire to escape.

Director:
Areeb Zuaiter

Genre:
Documentary

Year:
2024

Duration:
89 minutes

Rating:
13+

Country:
Sweden, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine

Language:
Arabic, Swedish

Subtitling:
English

Screenplay: Areeb Zuaiter, Phil Jandaly

Cast: Ahmed Matar, Areeb Zuaiter

Cinematography: Ibrahim Al-Otla, Marco Padoan, Umit Gulsen

Editing: Phil Jandaly

Production: Basel Mawlawi

Awards: Grand Jury Prize -- DOC NYC -- New York, USA -- 2024 | 2nd Audience Award -- Berlinale Panorama -- Berlin, Germany -- 2025 | Firebird Award -- Hong Kong International Film Festival -- Hong Kong, China-- 2025

Début Status: Jordanian Première

Synopsis

When filmmaker Areeb rediscovers Gaza through a video of young men leaping in front of a colossal bombing, a childhood memory stirs; her first encounter with the sea. Drawn by longing, she connects with Ahmed, a parkour athlete whose jumps confront gravity and a reality full of obstacles. Together, they move through cemeteries, ruins, and dreams, where joy triggers beneath the heaviness of siege. What begins as a return to a memory becomes a journey through uncertainties and unspoken exile; a pull between forgotten places and the desire to belong.

Director’s biography

Areeb Zuaiter is a multinational filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on art, identity, and social issues. She holds an MA in Film and Video from American University. Zuaiter's work has won international awards. Her debut short, Stained, won the Jury Award at Beirut's European International Film Festival. Her documentary Colors of Resistance was nominated for Sony's Outstanding Thesis Award and won awards at the Colorado Activism Film Festival and Spotlight Documentary Film Awards. She previously worked at the Associated Press, was a Goldman Sachs Fellow, led training at the Royal Film Commission and heads Programming at the Amman International Film Festival.