“From Ground Zero” Uses Empathy to Make Us See Gaza’s Reality
By Steve Lemeshko
From Ground Zero, a submission to the 97th Academy Awards (Oscars), has rightfully earned a spot on the shortlist for Best International Feature Film. This anthology film is made of 22 deeply personal and untold stories, each presented in various genres from documentaries to animation. Each story, though brief—just 3 to 6 minutes—is a window into the lives of those living amidst the constant war.
The film doesn't rely on elaborate production or professional actors. Instead, it feels almost like something you’d see on the news. It feels raw and intimate. Yet, it’s precisely this unpolished approach that makes the film so powerful. Through storytelling, From Ground Zero builds narrative empathy, helping viewers from across the globe connect to the experiences of people waking up and going to sleep under the buzzing drones and exploding bombs. David Ehrlich of IndieWire captures the film’s essence perfectly:
[T]he work is now being seen, and through the act of showing it, so too are the Palestinian people, who refuse to accept the convenience of being made invisible by a world that would rather they abandon their cameras.
This statement cuts to the heart of the film’s mission: amplifying the voices of those who lost everything by virtue of being born in Gaza, those rendered invisible by conflict. Psychic numbing—the mental defense mechanism that shields us from overwhelming suffering—has made these people and their stories too easy to overlook. But this film challenges us to confront numbing and extend our empathy to those in need.
As I write this blog essay, a 2025 ceasefire offers a glimmer of hope for an end to the war in Gaza. But even if the fighting stops, the hardest part still lies ahead: rebuilding the future. The cities of Gaza lie in ruins—but cities can be rebuilt; what cannot be restored are the lives lost. These losses must be remembered, and the trauma borne by millions cannot be erased. Palestinians will require humanitarian aid, but above all, they need our empathy—our willingness to see and support those who have suffered. And when we feel numb—when the scale of suffering becomes too vast to comprehend—works like From Ground Zero may be the key to breaking through. Narrative empathy, created by focusing on individual stories, can shatter the barriers we build around our hearts. Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz describes this phenomenon powerfully:
We feel it [the events in the film] could happen to us, too, or that it is happening to us, thanks to the empathy machine aspect of cinema storytelling. [...] For all its horror and sadness, this is one of the most hopeful films I’ve ever seen.
Through art and storytelling, we can foster collective empathy—one story at a time. This is the true hope that From Ground Zero offers.
The film is now in theaters. For more information, visit here.
For further reading, see the following articles:
Why we're numb to the people killed in Israel and Gaza / January 17, 2024
The New York Times on the Power of Stories / November 21, 2023
Arab News Acknowledges Psychic Numbing Amidst the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict / April 5, 2024