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Life is Beautiful has received an Honorable Mention for the Jean Rouch Award at this year's Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) Film and Media Festival at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) annual meeting, November 19-23, 2025. The Jean Rouch Award recognizes films that are produced in a collaborative manner embodying the spirit of Rouch's shared anthropology.
In the form of a film letter, Life is Beautiful, by Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly (Ambulance, Gaza Online), meditates on correspondence and the use of film to secure participation in global discussions about family and intimacy in Palestine. Life is Beautiful also comments on the practices of documenting one's life, the passage of time, and the contradictions of living in a country that has trouble recognizing an immigrant’s status of belonging through legal means.
Stuck in the arctic of Norway and refusing to accept the boundaries imposed by international politics and rigid bureaucracy, Jabaly insists on telling heartfelt stories from his hometown Gaza. Despite having only limited connection to his family abroad and support from his friends, he manages to channel his own creativity, adhering to his motto, "Life is Beautiful."
Life is Beautiful tells of overcoming global politics and rigid bureaucracy, using all the creativity to connect with the world, going forward, with a smile.
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