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Free Fish

Free Fish is an intimate short documentary filmed entirely in Gaza during one of the deadliest years in recent history. The film follows two brothers, Mohammad and Ahmad Kaloob, separated by siege and displacement, yet bound by the sea.
Mohammad, displaced in Khan Younis with his two young daughters, fishes from the South and tries to find alternatives for the boat and net he lost in the bombing of Gaza Seaport. Ahmad, still in the North under total blockade, risks his life each morning near the Al-Shate’e refugee camp, what was once a livelihood is now a daily act of survival, the coastline is militarized, boats are shot at and hunger is used as a weapon of war.

And yet, the brothers return to the sea. They cast their nets and their memories, into waters that no longer offer freedom, but still carry meaning. Fishing becomes a fragile ritual of resistance, of connection, of presence.
The film also follows Rami, Mohammad’s teenage nephew, who lost his twin brother during the genocide and now fishes alone. Through him, Free Fish becomes not just a story of survival, but of grief, inheritance, and the quiet defiance of those who refuse to disappear.

  • Bisan Owda
    Director
  • Carolina Pereira
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Short Documentary, Political, Human Rights, Drama
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 13 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    75,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Palestine, State of, Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Palestine, State of
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Sony FX3, 4K DCI
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • SFFILM Doc Stories
    San Francisco
    United States
    Official Selection
  • TRT International Film Festival
    Istambul
    Turkey
    Official Selection
  • Florida Film Festival
    Orlando
    United States
    Official Selection - Best Short Competition
Director Biography - Bisan Owda

Bisan is a 26 - years - old Palestinian filmmaker and director, currently based in Gaza, who has been documenting daily life in Gaza for five years. Bisan produced a television and social media program that documented all areas of the Gaza Strip before it's destruction, in addition to many cultural and heritage topics, called "Hakawatiya." She worked as a producer with Jordan's Roya TV before the genocide, and worked with Al Jazeera as a short documentaries producer during the genocide. She also worked with Al Arabiya TV to produce a series of 15-minute short documentaries. Bisan won an Emmy in the Outstanding Hard News Feature Story category for her documentary, and a Peabody award for her Journalistic work.

Bisan is currently working on several short films and feature-length documentaries, about daily life in Gaza and many personal stories that reflect the Palestinian reality in Gaza during the genocide.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Gaza Sea has been the sole refuge for 4,500 fishermen for many years, but it's also the sole refuge for more than 2 million people under siege since 2007. They suffer from high population density, limited public and recreational facilities, and near-constant power outages. The only place they have access to is the sea, a place to spend some time before returning to the hardships of life caused by the blockade and occupation.

The Gaza Port, built by Gazans to be Gaza's window to the world and its port for trade and travel, is also under siege. Gaza is besieged by land, sea, and air. It has been transformed from a port for commercial and transport vessels, as it was intended at the time of its construction, into a gathering place for fishing boats. Yet, we saw the sea as our only means of communication with the world and with each other. In addition to being the only source of fresh food during the genocide, the beach was also a site of displacement and the tents of displaced Gazans forced from their homes by the occupation. Therefore, our relationship with the sea is strong in our bad days and our worst days.

This film brings together all the above meanings and suffering, starting with displacement and separation from family, when we were displaced from the north of the Gaza Strip, which was besieged by the occupation and prevented from returning to it for 15 months, to the south of Gaza Strip, going to the destruction of fishing equipment, the bombing of the Gaza port and the burning of all fishing boats, then to forced starvation and the scarcity of resources that push fishermen to try to fish with all the primitive methods they can think of, and even to the targeting of fishermen by warships and their killing at sea while trying to obtain food for their families.

This is done by documenting the story of two fishermen brothers who were separated, but whose bonds were united by the sea. This film speaks directly about the fishermen and the suffering they face, but it also indirectly addresses other issues that embody the systematic genocide against Palestinians, which not only began recently but has extended for many years before that.