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We All Live In Gaza

“It was bound to happen,” say the artists of Gaza who have endured fifteen years of occupation and the greatest military bombardment in modern history. “We All Live In Gaza” follows the lives of five Palestinian artists before and after the 2023 siege, shining a light on the Palestinian heart.

  • Maurice V. Jacobsen
    Director
    Dialogue (PBS), Will Our Children Thank Us? (PBS), Shelled (Press TV), Encircled (Press TV)
  • Rami Eisa
    Director
  • Rami Eisa
    Producer
    The Media Group, Gaza City Palestine
  • Atif Eisa
    Producer
  • Maurice V. Jacobsen
    Producer
  • Barbara McVeigh
    Producer
  • Maurice V. Jacobsen
    Writer
  • Rami Eisa
    Writer
  • Rami Eisa
    Key Cast
  • Malak Mattar
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 7, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    220,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Palestine, State of, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16x9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Maurice V. Jacobsen, Rami Eisa

Maurice Jacobsen is an independent media producer/director who has worked throughout the world for the past forty years.

After completing projects produced for PBS (Dialogue, Will Our Children Thank Us?) and Discovery Channel Europe
(Expedition 360), he began working in the Middle East in 2002 with funding from KQED-TV, San Francisco on the online documentary Jerusalem: A Living History.

Prior to the pandemic he balanced time between freelance assignments and independent documentary production, commuting between the U.S., Israel/Palestine and Europe on a
regular basis. He is currently based in San Francisco.

In 2013 he produced the multimedia project Facing Al Aqaba a photographic essay of each resident of this West Bank community that opened at ArtPrize 2013, the largest
arts competition in the world. Here the installation was shortlisted for awards in two categories, the only project such honored.

Mr. Jacobsen has lived and worked in the Gaza Strip for 16 months, producing the feature length documentary titled We All Live in Palestine, as well as producing projects for Gaza based NGOs Oxfam and Mercy Corps. While in the territory he was commissioned by Press TV to produce two documentaries titled Shelled and Encircled both of which aired internationally and are currently in distribution.

Mr. Jacobsen has a BA in Film Production from the University of Denver and has studied at the American Film Institute Digital Content Lab, Los Angeles where he specialized in the production of interactive online documentary programming. He has
taught on the faculties of American University, Washington, DC, The New School for Social Research, New York and The University of Bridgeport. While in The Gaza Strip he conducted video production workshops for aspiring journalists under a
USAid sponsored program coordinated by InterNews.

Prior to his work in the Middle East Mr. Jacobsen was a producer with Video Free America, San Francisco where he was involved in the production and editing of projects throughout the world for clients ranging from Cisco Systems to the San Francisco Unified School District.

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Director Statement

I would describe myself as someone deeply concerned with the fate of the Palestinian people. As a Jewish/American holding dual American/Israeli citizenship, for better or worse, a sense of guilt has propelled this project forward over the many years of production. As a filmmaker, I see myself as a facilitator, using our multiple media tools to help those experiencing the siege share their stories and bringing us collectively into a deeper state of humanity valuing peace, prosperity and respect.
2010 was my first personal visit to inside Gaza. Here over multiple stays spanning the past thirteen years one-to-one connections were made with the creative community inside the blockade. And it is though their artistic work and personal stories that our documentary unfolds.
Visually, the documentary travels the length and width of Gaza, meeting those who captured my respect and inspired me. It is a common truth; art in its many forms, visual and oral, is a universal language. Music and art transcend borders, cut across politics, speak directly to both heart and mind. Despite physical deprivation, despite the loss of loved ones, loss of property, loss of freedom, the need to create transcends all. This is as true to today as it has been since time immemorial.