Documentation & Community Awareness Unit

Background

GCMHP established the Gaza Video Center in 1995 to produce documentaries on different psychosocial phenomena affecting the Palestinian people and to contribute to development and public education efforts.

The Center expanded its work to incorporate more activities and was renamed the Documentation and Community Awareness Unit in recognition of its integral role in education and public outreach.


Objectives and Activities

Objective 1: To raise public awareness about different social, psychological, mental health, and human rights issues.
Activity a: Produce short films describing different mental health problems
Activity b: Produce educational films about stress and coping strategies
Objective 2: To reach a wider audience in the community
Activity a: Broadcast different video programs through governmental and independent television stations
Activity b: Show our productions in youth clubs, social welfare centers, schools, and summer camps in the Gaza Strip.
Objective 3: To give advice to people on how to react to certain situations and deal effectively with traumatic events.
Activity a: Produce and broadcast films concerning torture and its psychosocial effects
Activity b: Produce and broadcast films concerning domestic violence in Palestinian society
Objective 4: To reach less accessible groups in society, especially women and children
Activity a: Show films about children in summer camps and schools.
Activity b: Show films about women's issues and gender awareness in different women's centers in the Gaza Strip
Objective 5: To improve training methods used by mental health workers in Gaza and in other parts of Palestine and the Arab world
Activity a: Produce training films for mental health professionals to be used in their training courses
Objective 6: To improve the quality of productions by the Gaza Video Center staff. Activity a: Provide specialized training for GVC staff in producing educational films for Palestinian children

Productions (1996 - 2003):

  • WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS: a 28 minute film on domestic violence against women (1996)

  • LITTLE HANDS: a 28-minute film on child labor, its causes, and effects (1996)

  • NEAR TO DEATH: a 26-minute film on the difficulties of living in close proximity to the Israeli Settlements (1997)

  • POLLUTION OF WATER: a 28-minute film on water pollution in the Gaza Strip (1996)

  • YOUSIF: a 20-minute film on trauma treatment for children (1996)

  • IDLE SHIPS: an 8-minute film on fishing difficulties off the coast of the Gaza Strip (1996)

  • GCMHP: a 30-minute film on the GCMHP, describing its activities, departments, and future (1997)

  • CHILDREN VOICES FROM PALESTINE: a 10-minute film on the hopes and wishes of Palestinian children (1997)

  • ATIF: an 11-minute film about one child handicapped as a result of Israeli violence during the Intifada (1996)

  • SALAM: a 20-minute film about the Palestinian perspective on peace (1996)

  • ROOT: a 28-minute film recounting the Palestinian uprooting from BEER-AL-SABAA area in the year 1948, including the kind of lives they used to lead there, the war, the journey, and the hope of return (1998)

  • HOPE & PAIN: a 15-minute film about Palestinian youths, the difficulties they face, their hopes for a good future, and the growing desire for immigration.(1998)

  • SIDE RAOD LANE: a 15-minute film about handicapped people in the Gaza Strip, the way they live, and the obstacles they face in society (1998)

  • FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY: a 15-minute film telling the story of the Palestinian uprooting in the year 1948 and the current situation of those living in the refugee camps (1999)

  • CELLO: a 12-minute film about a Palestinian musician forced to leave his profession and work as a plumber in Israel to earn a livelihood for his family (1999)

  • CLINICAL INTERVIEW: a 20-minutes training program on the techniques of the methods of the clinical interview and how the workers in the field of mental health can go with it (2000)

  • PTSD FILM: a 12-minutes film about a victim of the old intifada 1987 who witness the killing of six Palestinians and affected by this accident and developed PTSD. (2000)

    The center started to produce several programs on mental health issues in the year 2001 to raise public awareness by showing them in private TV stations in Gaza and the West Bank.

  • TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH: a 30-minutes program about trauma, discussed by specialists and street interviews about the affect of this intifada on the Palestinian children.(2001)

  • STIGMA AND MENTEL HEALTH: a 30-minutes program about the stigma and mental health, how people think about it and why some people still feel shamed of visiting mental health centers.(2001)

  • PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDER a 30-minute program about the psychosomatic affected the people, and how the person can deal with such affects.(2001)

  • How to deal with Intifada handicapped: a 30-minute program about the Intifada handicapped and the psychological effects.(2001)

  • STRESS COPING: A 30 minutes program discuses the stress disorders in the Palestinian society due to the difficult economic situation in the recent days.(2001)

  • PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF HANDICAP AS A RESULT OF INJURY IN THE INTIFADA:This program concerns the Palestinian society as a whole because thousands of people were wounded through live ammunitions and rubber bullets and do now have to phase live long disabilities.(2001)

  • ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AGREEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH SERVICIS:A 28 minutes program tells about the Israeli violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories in the Intefada, mainly the health services that are facing a major danger that preventing the health services teams to do their work.(2002)

  • THE EFFECT OF THE TENTION POLITICAL SITUATION ON THE SCHOOL ACHIEVMENT:This 30 min. program discusses the effect of the tension political situation on the school achievements on Palestinian children(2002)

  • POVERTY AND ITS EFFECTS ON PSYCHOLIGICAL DEVELOPMENTS: A 30 min. program discusses the bad economical situation among Palestinian families and its effect on the psychological developments of their children(2002)

  • AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AMONG CHILDREN:A 30 min. program tells about the aggressive behavior among Palestinian children due to the tension political situation in the Palestinian territories.(2002)

  • PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:A 30 min. program about Israeli human rights violations and its physical and psychological effects among Palestinians who have been exposed to different kinds of torture form the Israeli army.(2002)

  • Healing the Spirit: A 15 min documentary about the suffer of the Palestinian people in the recent Intifada and the role of GCMHP to help the society overcome their situation. (2003)

  • School Run: A 28 min. program about the children in the Gaza Strip and their relation with school. The school run is spreading among the students in Gaza. In this program we discuss this issue and its reasons, and the advices to both parents and teachers to solve it. (2003)

  • Trauma among Children: a 25 min. program tells about the trauma among Palestinian children who are experiences Israeli aggression, mainly bombing raids and specially those who live near the hot areas like Israeli settlements and the fence. (2003)

  • Epilepsy: a 25 min. program about epilepsy among the children in Palestine, the reasons of this problem and how to overcome this problem which is spreading more in the society. (2003)

  • Physiotherapy and rehabilitation of torture survivors: A 22 min. program about the role of physiotherapy in helping the survivors of torture to overcome their problems, and the importance of this method to help more people to rehabilitate and cope with their society. (2003)

  • Democracy and social upbringing: A 25 min. program about the democracy and its role in the social upbringing. How the democracy develop a new generation with the behavior of democracy, and to correct the wrong idea of child rearing in the society. (2003)

    Child Labor, Produced by Video Center (GCMHP)

    A film about 1948 Palestinian uprooting (Nakba),

    Produced by Video Center (GCMHP)

    Rebuilding Hope
    a pilot film by Tamer Mansour
    narrated by Cindy Corrie with introductory material by Ron Eggleton

    "This week Wednesday, the Nasrallah family will start building their new home through the grassroots support of hundreds of
    Americans and people throughout the world. They are the family that my daughter, Rachel Corrie, sought to protect
    when she was killed by the Caterpillar D9 Bulldozer that threatened their
    home in March 2003. My name is Cindy Corrie and I am Rachel's Mother."

    Click www.RebuildingAlliance.org to watch our film


    (47.0MB)