The Palestinian cause dominated the sessions of the first edition of the Global Conference for Children and Youth held during the 12th Sharjah International Film Festival. Attendees discussed how to amplify the voice of the Palestinian child through cinema and the main obstacles and challenges facing the passage of Palestinian cinematic art to the ears and eyes of the world.

On the sidelines of the conference, Palestinian media professional Mayson Azzam expressed to Al Khaleej her appreciation for the festival’s focus on Palestinian children’s issues and conveying their voice. She said: “I am grateful that this year’s Global Conference on Children and Youth Cinema dedicated a main space to Palestine, affirming cinema’s role as a tool for human expression, not merely an artistic or entertainment medium. I considered the opening session I had the honor to manage, titled ‘Highlighting the Voices of Palestinian Children through Cinema,’ a human cry against the genocide in Gaza, as classified by the United Nations, and a moral stance rejecting silence in the face of Palestinian childhood suffering.”

She added: “In this context, art becomes a tool of resistance and a means to preserve memory from oblivion, not just creative luxury. Through the festival, cinema has turned into a platform bearing ethical and humanitarian responsibility before the international community, reminding it of the duty to protect Palestinian childhood, preserve its right to life, convey its voice, and shed light on it.”

She continued: “The conference succeeded in redefining the role of cinema from mere entertainment production to a message of global conscience, restoring the voices of children born under bombardment, yet still capable of dreaming and seeing the world through the lens of hope, not destruction.”

Mohamed Qublawi, head of the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, took up the conversation to share his vision after participating as a speaker at the conference about the importance and ways to deliver the voice of the Palestinian child to the world and communicate with the West in this regard. He said: “The European audience today has preconceived notions about what Palestinian cinema does, and Palestinian producers should change this stereotypical image of the Palestinian child presented in news bulletins as only suffering by showing other images, including that the child is a full human being, not just a child evoking pity and sympathy. The Palestinian people are naturally life-loving and strong-willed, and the Palestinian child can still draw, play, sing, and learn despite all the suffering he endures. Films should adopt a different and more realistic image of him.”

Firdous Balbulia, director of the Nelson Mandela Film Festival, expressed her happiness to participate again in the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth. She said: “Two years ago, I participated by screening the film ‘Farha,’ which traveled from Sharjah to screens worldwide. The film tells the story of a Palestinian girl whose father locked her alone in a small room to protect her, and she witnessed acts of violence and soldier attacks on her town through a small hole in the wall. I greatly appreciate the initiative adopted by this conference to give voice to the voiceless and express human suffering worldwide, especially the Palestinian child.”

She praised the festival’s role in developing children’s and youth’s skills and emphasized the importance of conveying a realistic and true picture of various events worldwide, including what Palestinian children experience, through film productions that reach the viewer’s emotions and embed the idea in their minds.