Official Lineup

At Trianon Cinema

أسماك حرة

Free Fish

2025

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Documentary

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22'

by Bisan Owda بيسان عودة

[Palestine, Portugal]

Screening as part of Palescope 2: The Way home.

Greek and English subtitles

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Synopsis

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.

Official Poster

Biography

Bisan Owda بيسان عودة is a 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.

Director's photo