GAZA - Nadia AlHassanat was born in Gaza during the First Intifada. In her twenties, she fled her conservative family to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Today, she has been living in Belgium for eight years. The only person she stayed in touch with by phone is her older sister Fatma, who remains in Gaza with her two children.
After the attacks of October 7, Gaza is sealed off completely. Food and medicine barely make it in while the Israeli army bombs the area nonstop. Under these dire circumstances, Fatma and her children struggle to survive. “No one truly understands our pain. We just want to get out of Gaza.” Through phone calls, the sisters share their fears, memories, and hopes. These conversations reveal both their unbreakable bond and the insurmountable divide between their worlds.
Nadia does everything she can to evacuate her loved ones. With no help from the Belgian government, she decides to take matters into her own hands and arrange an evacuation through Egypt — the only and last way out of Gaza. But that costs money, money Nadia doesn’t have. “How much is spent on weapons and bombings? €20,000? I don’t have that. For me, that’s a lot of money. But €20,000 to save four people... that’s not a lot of money.” So, Nadia launches a crowdfunding campaign.
But then the Egyptian border closes, leaving Fatma and her children trapped like rats. All they can do now is hope and pray. The tone of the phone calls grows darker: “Does it still smell like dead bodies? No, it’s a bit less. I think the dogs have eaten everything.”
Calling Gaza is a gripping documentary about family, loss, and the fight to save lives in one of the most isolated places in the world. A story of courage and despair, told from two worlds connected by love and resilience.
