On December 1, Scandinavia House presents a special screening and film talk of a Swedish qualifier for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards: the tender, deeply affecting documentary Yalla Parkour, followed by a Q&A with director Areeb Zuaiter.
Yalla Parkour
Dir. Areeb Zuaiter | Sweden/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Palestine, 2024
When she was four, the filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter travelled to Gaza and saw the sea for the first time. That moment – the magic of the sea and the smile on her Palestinian mother’s face – had a lasting impact. When she sees a video of young men doing parkour on Gaza’s sandy shores, her nostalgia for this distant home resurfaces. The joy of the young athletes stands in stark contrast to the distant echoes of explosions. Longing to reconnect with her past, Areeb gets in touch with the parkour team and befriends Ahmed. Together, they navigate what is left of Gaza, exploring a cemetery, a run-down shopping center, and the remains of an airport.
As their relationship deepens, Ahmed reveals the harsh realities of life in Gaza, transforming Areeb’s initial curiosity into a profound awareness of the struggles he faces. Areeb grapples with feelings of guilt and conflict as she witnesses Ahmedʼs desire to escape the confines of his homeland, understanding the emotional void such a departure would entail. Framed as a narrated letter from Zuaiter to her mother, Yalla Parkour becomes not only a quest to reclaim memories but also an exploration of identity, belonging, and the haunting legacy of a home left behind.
“An interesting, subtle and poetic watch… a testament to the human spirit’s ability to continue and find light, even against all odds.” (Ola Salwa, Cineuropa)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Areeb Zuaiter is a multinational filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on art, identity, and social issues. Zuaiterʼs work had won multiple international awards. Her debut short, Stained, won the Jury Award at Beirutʼs European International Film Festival. Her documentary, Colors of Resistance, was nominated for Sonyʼs Outstanding Thesis Award and won multiple awards at the Colorado Activism Film Festival and the Spotlight Documentary Film Awards. Zuaiter had previously worked at the Associated Press, and served a Goldman Sachs Film and Video Fellow at the Smithsonianʼs National Museum of American History. Zuaiter lead the Regional Training Department at the Royal Film Commission – Jordan, and taught at several universities in Washington, DC. In addition to working on her films, Zuaiter heads the programming department at the Amman International Film Festival (AIFF).