“Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me, a new documentary from Mohammed Sawwaf (Eleven Days in May) tells one of the many human stories in the Israel-Hamas war. “When the Israeli army invades the Gaza Strip in 2023, Rania is eight months pregnant. She gives birth to triplets just as her hometown in northern Gaza is”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
“When the Israeli army invades the Gaza Strip in 2023, Rania is eight months pregnant. She gives birth to triplets just as her hometown in northern Gaza is bombed,” reads a synopsis for the film, which will world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). “One girl dies at birth, while the other two babies, Jowan and her brother Hamoud, are so weak that they have to be placed in an incubator. When the hospital is evacuated, the twins are moved to southern Gaza, where Rania’s sister Nisreen takes over their care. A travel ban prevents the babies from returning to their mother.”
Over 16 months, the film follows the parallel lives of the mother and her twins, exploring motherhood and family bonds that hold strong even in a time of war.
The 38th edition of IDFA runs Nov. 13-23. The immersive Al Jazeera Witness documentary, produced by Alef Multimedia and co-produced by Een van de jongens in association with BNNVARA, world premieres at the fest on Nov. 16.
Sawwaf, a filmmaker, producer and journalist based in Gaza, is currently working on a feature narrative film called Gaza Year Zero.
“In February, I had just begun to recover and regain some mobility after being injured in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023,” he says in a director’s note about Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me. “At that time, I was trapped in northern Gaza while my team was in the south, after the Israeli army divided the Strip in two.”
When he found out about the separated family, he decided to document it. “The story touched me deeply: these were vulnerable twin babies, just three months old, caught between war zones,” he recalls in his note. “I told my team, ‘Just start filming. Let the children and their reality guide the story – capture their journey, their daily struggles, and build trust with the families.’ Meanwhile, I began searching for their mother, Rania, in the far north.”
And he highlights: “Our approach was immersive and observational. We wanted the camera to disappear – to simply witness life as it unfolded, without interference. For 16 months, we followed the journey of the twins and their family: displacement, hunger, longing, and the deep need for connection.”
THR can exclusively debut three clips from Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me.
The first clip introduces us to Rania, who is looking for clothes for the twins that they may have outgrown. And we hear the story of the death of one of the triplets.
In Clip 2, we meet the surviving twins and see Nisreen talking about the health condition of the brother and sister duo when she took them in.
Watch that clip here.
The final clip from Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me shows little Hamoud surrounded by adults who are discussing his various physical challenges. And we hear Nisreen promising him that one day he will learn “everything that happened to you.”
Check out that scene below.