How do journalists report on a war when they become victims of the violence, and when their proximity to the conflict is used to paint them as unreliable witnesses?
That's the issue explored in "Inside Gaza," a new documentary that follows journalists from global news agency AFP who were trapped in the territory as Israel exacted a fearsome revenge for Hamas's October 7 attack.
Director Hélène Lam Trong brings these news industry veterans in front of the camera, showing how they balance the difficult task of reporting on the massive military response with their own survival, as it destroys their city, killing family, friends and colleagues.
"Most international correspondents... cover a war or a news event and then return home to safety," freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Lam Trong told AFP in Los Angeles, where the film was shown as part of The American French Film Festival.
"Palestinian journalists could not do that. They were trapped alongside the civilian population of Gaza, with no way out; as the days passed, they themselves became victims of the war."
The Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed more than 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians. Armed men also took more than 200 people hostage.
