Iyad Hajjaj, a Hollywood actor originally from Rafah, is touring his new short film, which he hopes will give Western audiences an intimate view of what has been happening in Gaza over the past two years.
The film, "My Foot is in Heaven," inspired by real events, tells the story of a father (played by Hajjaj) whose daughter's lower leg is severely wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. The family, who have already lost their other children in the war, quickly learn that their daughter's foot can only be amputated without anaesthesia.
Hajjaj, whose screen credits include "Ms. Marvel", "Will and Grace", and "Black Monday", held one of his initial private screenings in Sacramento on Sunday. The audience, mainly from the local Muslim community, viewed what Hajjaj hopes will be a way to tell the story of Gaza through the accessible medium of film.
"I consider myself an ambassador for my people in Hollywood," Hajjaj said at one of five private screenings of the film in Sacramento on Sunday. "I made that promise to myself that I would tell our stories."
Pointing to the difficulty of telling stories about Palestinians, he said, "There are not many people like me, with my colour and my accent, who can say I’m really in Hollywood, working with stars and big producers."
It was with this pressure in mind that he nevertheless spent months creating an authentic set and wardrobe to depict Gaza, where he has family he speaks with nearly daily. Many have died in Israeli airstrikes.
He had always wanted to tell human stories of his community, and he became more determined after 9/11, amid stereotypical depictions of Muslims and Arabs (it was around this time that he made a career change from physical therapy, which had brought him to the US, to acting). The past two years of an Israeli genocidal war on Gaza made him even more determined to tell stories about his community.
Hajjaj hopes to turn this short film into a feature-length production. Even at around 15 minutes, he says he took pains to make it as realistic as possible, including filming in the desert and ensuring the clothing and tents looked like what would be seen in Gaza.
Throughout the story, the characters speak English for the main dialogue, with some common Arabic phrases interspersed, Hajjaj's way of making it more accessible for a Western audience, and also to avoid the complications of finding actors with Gazan accents.
In the scene of the young girl's foot amputation, the surgeon, who is wearing a cross, shares that he is Christian, a point Hajjaj wanted to make to show the existence of Gaza's Christian community.
Behind the scenes, Hajjaj has received support from fellow Hollywood filmmakers, including a loan of state-of-the-art camera equipment for filming.
The film is something of a significant step for someone who has felt the need to tread carefully in Hollywood. However, for Hajjaj, it is a project he has long wanted to pursue—the idea of humanising a community that has largely been portrayed as a stereotype or villain.
"I'm an artist, and my language is an art form," he told the audience. "I speak through films, and this is the language I can portray my message."