Born in Gaza (2014) Poster

(2014)

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9/10
The way I see the world changed now!
farahyass21 October 2023
This movie hit me deep. Never imagined how hard the life of a child can be. Never imagined the size of and scenery of massive distruction.

After watching this movie I became appreciative of everything I have. I realised that no matter how hard my problems are they're nothing compared to a child wittiness his own brother get torn into pieces.

The trauma is really. Children Gaza are prevented from having a childhood.

I gave a 9 for the strong stories. The movie takes you to accompany 10 children and how were they affected by the war. I watched it on Netflix the translation was not the best tho.
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9/10
And yet, here we are again...
catarinasuicide26 October 2023
POWERFUL watch, specially now. Certain quotes will stay with me forever. It's so rare to find the kid's side of the story in this conflict, they're constantly used as media lure but no one hears FROM THEM.

Here you see them telling their story through their eyes, you don't hear much of the incidents, just enough. What they really focus on is the aftermath, the impact this has on people too young to fully understand what's happening.

Perfect, for people who don't understand what the situation was prior to the latest events, really shows you the hopelessness these children were already living in.
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9/10
Agonizing, heart-rending
samabc-3195228 May 2021
"We do grow vegetables not bombs then why do they bomb us? "
  • a 13 year old Palestinian boy
In 2014. Israel launched offensive on Gaza that left more than 500 children dead and almost 3600 children wounded.. shockingly, 80% of Gaza population is dependent on humanitarian aid and not to mention a grim 45% if unemployment rate in that region .. these attacks caused some 24000 farmers to leave and loose their farms, 42000 aces of farmlands affected and over 400,000 children would later need some kind of psychological help...an agonizing heart-rending true story .. Whether you are a Zionist or not or even hard-hearted, this will break your heart .. a must must watch documentary .
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10/10
It's a eye opener documentary
hiraahmd26 October 2023
This is such a powerful documentary that truly shows the reality. Kids are kids. All they need is love but in this young age they are just suffering. They have dreams, aspirations and it's so so painful that how everything fell apart for them. They don't deserve this, not only physically but they are suffering with PTSD and are in dire need of psychological, medical and educational help. After watching this I am truly praying for peace and happiness for them. I wish the world stop turning a blind eye towards them and be kind towards children who are innocent and needs a healthy environment to live.
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10/10
Heartbreaking and disturbing but a superb doco
tm-sheehan17 October 2023
Screening on Netflix My Review Nacido en Gaza (2014). Born in Gaza My Rating 10/10

This heartbreaking and disturbing French documentary is a beautifully filmed account describing the devastating physical and psychological effects of children who by an accident of birth live lives of uncertainty in a war torn country where in any day they could become orphans or lose a brother or sister.

Filmed shortly after the 2014 Gaza War Summer War and told through the eyes of 10 Palestinian children this documentary certainly opened my eyes to what must be happening ten fold today in Gaza and I wondered just how many of these ten children are still alive 9 years after this film?

This documentary film focuses on the violence of the Israel-Palestine conflict and it's effects on the children of Gaza. The documentary follows the story of about ten children who tell what their daily life is like after the horror of the war in Gaza in the summer of 2014.
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10/10
The ongoing pain
wafa-9379724 October 2023
These kids are living in hell on earth and they feel alone helpless and they know they have no future just putting our selves in their shoes for one day would be unbearable! They teach us to appreciate a our lives our safety,a worm meal a good night sleep our families our friends imagine born and anytime could die while sleeping or awake trying to survive in fear at all time and the worst part is it's only getting worse we are in 2023 and now they are surviving yet worse then ever god help them because no one is but we are all going to be asked what we did to help in front of god we will all stand.
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10/10
If you don't cry you don't have a heart
michaelmangiamele25 October 2023
This is absolutely heart wrenching to watch. Basically a prison camp for children to die or if they survive they end up with lots of traumatic psychological problems. I can't even imagine how much suffering this place has. Collective trauma. No wonder some of these kids grow up to join the resistance, they don't know any better and just see death all around. They have nothing to look forward to and just live in terror. This film was shot in 2014 and now it's 2023 when the latest war broke out. In the film the children say there is a war every year or 2. So this collective pain just keeps repeating itself. They can't work, they can't live, they can't dream of a future.
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6/10
Grain of salt
mybfknq21 October 2023
I started watching this documentary to learn more about the conflict in the region. There is definitely a lot to learn from this film about the life the people live. Lack of jobs, difficult access to food and water, destruction everywhere.

It does leave me with an artificial feeling though... The children say things that sound rehearsed and not how a child would talk. The facts presented are one sided and sometimes inaccurate. Maybe coming from a child's point of view the directors thought they could get away with that?

Still worth watching but not reliable to form a point of view in my opinion.
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10/10
Very eye opening documentary. Beautifully done.
baiyub1 June 2021
All the politics aside, the lives of these children are the main focus and NO ONE deserves to be in this situation. Hamas or no Hamas If that is your excuse to cause this type of misery you are a monster.
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10/10
Brutal. Real. Humanizing.
belld-339373 September 2019
Really changes the propagandized version of Palestinians as red in tooth and claw and out for Jewish blood. THESE ARE CHILDREN! With dreams, hopes and massive PTSD resulting from the Protective Edge/Solid Cliff Massare of 2014, where Israel racked up a civilian kill ratio DOUBLE Bashar Assad's in Syria.
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10/10
Startling look into the lives of Palestinian children in Gaza
hina-abbas24 May 2021
Children in Gaza are living in an open air prison and this documentary gives the clearest evidence of this. UN Schools, ambulances, homes, farms, no place is safe from bombings, they lose there caregivers, they suffer from PTSD from living under occupation and war their whole lives, they have no food, water, electricity and this film shows you exactly how they survive and tells you in their words, only theirs, not any adults, what they want from the rest of the world, as they watch this film.
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10/10
Heartbreaking
pandora-321823 January 2023
The plight of Palestinians has never been shown as real as this. I found it to be an extremely difficult watch and the suffering of the children and the innocent families was unbearable. They were regular people with regular dreams and children who aspired to be teachers, farmers, fisherman, doctors etc whos lives, livelihoods, homes and relatives were snatched away by the evil and most despicable acts of the Israelis. These children may never see Justice in this world but God will hold those responsible accountable and i pray these children maintain faith, strength, honour and dignity if they manage to survive the brutality of the zionists. Glad to see this on Netflix and i hope everyone watches it. Enough already. The world needs to wake up and free Gaza!!
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10/10
No child deserves to live like this
afsheen-ayaz25 May 2021
As the world learns more about Israel's fascist regime and brutality towards the Palestinians, this documentary shows the experience of the children living in Gaza which has been placed under an illegal blockade.

These children are innocent. They don't deserve to be orphaned or killed just because Israel wants to subjugate the Palestinians. Inflicting violence is a war crime.

You will see kids in this video living in poverty having to live though multiple "wars" (actually its genocide). This kids need medical and psychological treatment. They can't go to school because their families need money to survive. They don't have access to basic necessities like food, shelter, electricity.
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10/10
Heartbreaking portrayal of this insane war
tomperuhawaii24 May 2019
I cried throughout most of this great but devastating documentary. It shows the insane reality between living on one side of the fence in rich and bullying Israel and on the other side in ruins and poverty stricken Gaza. Shame on Isreal and the entire western world for having abandoned these people and it's suffering children that are portrayed here so heroically.
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10/10
A must watch
assafwg27 May 2021
Cried throughout the movie! Shows you the real suffering of Gaza children. Shame on Israel! Shame shame shame!
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10/10
Eye Opening Extraordinary Documentary!
hakan-090526 February 2022
This extraordinary documentary will open your eyes, and let you see what is really going on in Gaza. You will start to question why all those western civilized human right countries just blind eye to this government crime.
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10/10
Gut wrenching and raw
copperwire13 November 2023
I was crying throughout the documentary and I don't cry easily. This movie takes the viewer through each child's life. It is heartbreaking to see how politics and weapons can destroy families and communities. Each and every one of these kids had dreams and hopes and a future yet they are born at a time when they must suffer needlessly. It is also really incredibly sad to wonder whether they are still alive or under the rubble of constant bombing by Israel. Are they still alive? Are their families with them? Do they have food and water? Or are they stuck in a cage-like prison fearing for their life. This is a must-view for anyone who wants to have a heart.
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9/10
The Longest Modern Day Apartheid
laneycarrington9 February 2019
Heartbreaking. Up close view of the effects of the 50 year apartheid and war in Gaza. Free Palestine.
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10/10
Eye opener - Must watch
salmahaq8 January 2023
Heart wrenching and painful to watch. The psychological suffering of these children is as painful as the physical damage that has been caused.

If a United Nations School can be bombed, nowhere is safe for these children. It just makes you throw your hands up in the air in frustration at the inhumanity of it all. Anyway who watches this without some sympathy needs to reevaluate their politics.

Although there were numerous moments that I won't forget, the most poignant line for me was 'If they do this to us when we are children, what will they do to us when we are grown up.' Apartheid still exists in 2023!
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10/10
Harrowing viewing
majadmahroof6 November 2023
A documentary showing the lives of children affected by the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. I finished watching this beautifully put together documentary with a profound sense of sadness. Why are innocent children still dying and suffering? We have a duty as human beings to ensure the protection of innocents and we are sadly failing. This conflict needs to be stopped immediately and as much awareness needs to raised as possible to stop further bloodshed. Shame on us all to allow this brutality to continue. The decisions made by war-mongers in Israel and the West need to be scrutinised and they need to be held accountable for these atrocities.
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10/10
Media coverage
ujafri-977522 January 2023
Finally! Thanks to Netflix for putting this out for mainstream consumption. If only more people knew maybe global policies would change, but that requires a fair and free media. At least with Netflix playing it now more people can learn that in an armed conflict, the side without any army and tanks is civilian, and 30 years ago when that happened, the leader of that nation was sought and hung supposedly for genocide against his citizens. But he didn't have WMD while the current aggressor does. Equal sanctions should be implemented on all nations for equally inhumane and internationally illegal aggression.
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10/10
Real and Raw
ahmadk-9655426 December 2022
The true plight of the Palestinian people living under a brutal occupation is highlighted in this documentary.

The raw emotions of children and their innocence is showcased throughout.

The everydsy lives of Palestinian children is captured profoundly throughout.

It is truly startling, raw, real and painful.

It is a shame most of the world does not know the true horror of what it is like to be a Palestinian due media bias, favouring the occupying state.

A must watch for those unfamiliar with the 'conflict' which it is not.

Be prepared with tissues as it is quite an emotional watch. Be warned.
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10/10
Heartbreaking and emotionally taxing
kookla1228 January 2024
Some of the reviews on here complain of the "vocabulary" the children use, even accusing the filmmakers of embellishing the truth of the situation as children that age "wouldn't speak like that". Ok, some things to consider:

1) these children have experienced a trauma most of the world will never know. That sort of trauma affects the way you speak, including being unable to find words that adequately describe your experience so you seek out new/different vocabulary.

2) some of the children had to quit school to work and bring home money for their family. Quitting school doesn't mean you stop learning, it means you stop going to school. The audacity to assume these children "couldn't possibly" have this vocabulary is ignorant. I guess if you don't personally know children that speak like this, they must not exist! That is such a limited view of a person's capabilities based on your own short-sighted knowledge.

3) TRANSLATION. Arabic is a very difficult language, one of the most difficult languages to learn and to translate properly because of the limitations of the languages Arabic is being translated into. Many languages do not have the same descriptiveness or complexity as Arabic, Chinese or Russian. The translation in this documentary may be the closest approximation in the language the viewer speaks. If you are watching it in English (subtitles or dubbed), I can guarantee that the English language does not have an *exact* translation for many Arabic words.

So while the average viewer wants other viewers to watch this "with a grain of salt" because they can't comprehend the reasons why the language may be "too advanced", the rest of us are able to understand that their words are still their words, just translated as best as possible. This is such an idiotic thing to get stuck on while watching this documentary. The documentary is about living under an occupation and the situations that arise and how it affects their daily existence.

I understand many people are just watching this film since Oct. 7th, 2023 and are coming in with a biased stance towards Palestine and Palestinians due to limited understanding of the geographical area. However, these are the lived experiences of these children. It's horrifying and I cannot imagine the fear and hopelessness they deal with on a daily basis. To come on here and say it seems fake cos of the advanced language or because you suddenly have an opinion on the political situation in the Middle East is disgusting. The callousness of this world knows no bounds.

If you want to understand what living under this occupation is like, please watch this important documentary. The situation is currently worse than we could have ever imagined yet the world continues to avert their eyes.
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10/10
Heartbreaking and tough but necessary to watch
shazlee_ahsan5 November 2023
This documentary focuses on the aftermath of the 2014 assault on Gaza by Israel. It concnetrates on the child victims and how they try to rebuild their shattered lives after experiencing the physical and psychological trauma of war.

The film haunts you with the distant, vacant look in the eyes of the young victims of the horrific conflict, whose only crime was to be born a Palestinian in Gaza. It is painfully obvious to the viewer that all the children are suffering from PTSD, and without the proper counselling who knows what will happen to these children. What kind of life can they look forward to? What did they do to deserve this? The children themselves are confused, they are left to ponder why they were attacked, they are just children they tell themselves and the viewer.

The adults in the documentary play a supporting role, the children are front and centre. The parents, aunts, uncles, brothers try to maintain a degree of normality, but you can painfully see they are crushed, forgotten but not beaten. Like the children, they cannot understand why they have been attacked...again. The pain and suffering is etched on their faces, but still they stubborningly go about rebuilding their lives, refusing to submit.

This documentary is a necessary watch as we witnessing the genocide of Gaza unfold before our eyes. I am left wondering, what happened to these children and their families? Are they alive? Have their houses and farms been destroyed once again? My prayers are with them and to all the people in Gaza suffering from this constant barrage of bombs.

My only hope is that politicians watch this documentary and maybe, just maybe it may change their opinion. The documentary reinforces what we are seeing on a daily basis, the real victims of war, as always are the children.
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10/10
Incrediably sad
sahdiyam29 October 2023
I watched this nearly 10 years after it was released. It is sad that nothing has actually changed. We are currently in the midst of a genocide, where over 8000 (so far) have been killed by the Israelis. And as I watch this I do think how many of these children are still alive. The documentary followed a group of children who clearly are suffering from PTSD. It is heartbreaking to watch. I recommend that everyone watches this to see the reality of the people in Gaza. And the new batch of children who will be now affected and traumatised by this bombing. Highly recommend. Directed wonderfully by an Argentinan.
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