Palestinian-American Filmmaker Call for Ceasefire

My name is Colette Ghunim, and I am a Palestinian-Mexican American documentary filmmaker. My soul purpose is to use the power of film and storytelling for those who have been oppressed around the world to be seen, to be heard, and to heal.

For the past 5 years, I have been working on Traces of Home, a documentary where I return with my family to locate the homes my parents were forced to leave as children in Mexico and Palestine. My original core impact goal for the film was for it to be used as a healing tool to unpack intergenerational trauma for children of refugees and immigrants.

However, with the urgency of the genocide in Gaza that continues to rampage on, with over 11,000 of our fellow human family being slaughtered, starved, cut off from all services, and forcibly removed, I am compelled to use both my film and my role as a filmmaker to call for an immediate ceasefire and end the siege on Gaza. I am asking my community to support two key urgent causes:

1. Next week, a group of international journalists, health workers, and organizations making up The Global Conscience Convoy will be traveling from Cairo, Egypt to the Gaza border to put pressure to allow humanitarian aid in. I am raising $1500 for my flight and audio equipment to be able to document the convoy for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

2. My film’s impact campaign needs to start as soon as possible, before the film is even done, to spark crucial conversations for Americans. The film provides both a personal narrative and historical context around the Israeli occupation of Palestine that is needed across the US, now. I am raising $3500 in order to hire an impact coordinator to help with the film’s outreach strategy, as well as to be able to travel to community centers and universities nationally.

It is crucial to have our voices heard, now, more than ever. We are watching a humanitarian crisis that is waking up our common humanity like never before, forcing us to speak out against the slaughtering of people in Palestine with our own tax dollars. We each must do what we can to end the extreme suffering as we are the ones responsible for reconstructing a world truly rooted in Truth and Love for all. Thank you for your support and solidarity.