Don’t Leave Us Behind
Don’t Leave Us Behind is a feature-length artistic documentary following Ahmed Sarsour, a displaced Sudanese-Palestinian poet surviving his second genocide. Born in Gaza and raised in Sudan since he was 9 years old, Ahmed lost everything after 21 years of work and study as a telecommunications engineer once war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. With no choice but to temporarily return to Gaza before immigrating to Egypt, Ahmed and his family found themselves trapped in the besieged enclave after the start of the Israeli genocide on October 7th, 2023. At the moment of writing this, he is still stuck in Gaza, doing his best to create and survive while under constant threat.
The documentary captures Ahmed’s struggle as an outsider to his Gazan background while finding moments of beauty and normalcy in the face of genocide. As he observes the changes and consistencies after being away from his war-torn country, Ahmed realizes how little the outside world understands his people. In order to remind the world of Gazan’s humanity, Ahmed writes and documents his daily life surrounded by death and depravity at the hands of the Israeli occupation over the course of two years.
I need all the help I can get in seeing this project succeed as envisioned. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in providing services pro-bono as an act of solidarity and resistance, please email me about how you’d like to contribute to the development of this project!
We are currently seeking funding for the post-production and distribution of Don’t Leave Us Behind: A Poet’s Echo from Gaza. For more information and to contribute, please click below: