Life Support (15)

Since October 2023, Gaza has been sealed from the world. While global media are barred from reporting, doctors are the only outsiders getting in. Life Support is built around their first-hand accounts and visceral footage from inside overwhelmed hospitals, covering the entire two years of the conflict.

Three medics lay bare the daily reality: bombed-out wards, dwindling supplies, starvation, and an overwhelming influx of casualties. Their accounts reveal what is being denied entry: formula, pain medication, surgical instruments. Alongside the doctors’ recordings, footage shot by local camera operators captures everyday life beyond the headlines. The result is an unflinching record of a society being dismantled, and a call to attend to its human consequences.

Content guidance: contains graphic and distressing scenes including images of severely injured children and starvation.

Life Support is the opening film of Leeds Palestinian Film Festival 2026.

There will be a short introduction to the film by Baroness Alison Lowe, and then join us after the screening for a panel discussion featuring:

• Daniele Rugo Director of Life Support TBC

• Professor Nick Maynard A prominent British Consultant who is in the film and who led the UK’s first emergency medical team into Gaza with MAP following October 7 2023.

• Amira Nimerawi Program and Impact Specialist at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society and CEO of Health Workers 4 Palestine.

• Dr Suesanne Samara & Dr Reyhana Henderson From West Yorkshire Health Workers 4 Palestine who are jointly chairing the panel discussion