‘Citizen Osama’ Review: A Direct, Disarming View of Daily Horrors in Gaza from the POV of a Journalist and New Father — SkimNews
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- "Citizen Osama" — Ahmed Hassouna's 69-minute documentary premiered at the 2026 Venice Film Festival and is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
- Osama Al-Ashi — the titular war journalist and new father, is followed from his son's birth in mid-2024 to the baby's first birthday in northern Gaza.
- The production — was filmed in utmost secrecy among roughly 36 journalists who stayed in northern Gaza after most residents were evacuated south, according to the credits.
- The film — captures Al-Ashi reporting on bakery closures in Jabalia for the UK's Channel 4, shouldering slain colleagues' bodies, and mourning martyr journalist Ismail al-Ghoul.
- The review — contrasts the doc's understated, diary-like approach with Kaouther Ben Hania's "The Voice of Hind Rajab" and Poh Si Teng's "American Doctor," and pairs it with Sepideh Farsi's "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk," which features the work of photojournalist Fatima Hassona.
Why it matters: With roughly 36 journalists still filing from northern Gaza, every on-the-ground documentary carries evidentiary weight — and "Citizen Osama" enters the marketplace without U.S. distribution, meaning the audience that most needs its ground-level Palestinian perspective currently has limited theatrical access. The review frames such releases as essential counterweights to social media disinformation and Global North-commissioned TV movies.
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