Below is the synopsis of a short film by director, Ferhat Gurini, and produced by Bacon for charity brand, Generation Gaza. It is political. It is personal. And it is confronting. War is a tragedy that humans keep repeating.
“On October 14, 2024, Shaban al-Dalou was burned alive in his tent in the overcrowded courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza, following an Israeli airstrike.
“The moment was captured on a smartphone. The image spread around the world—only to be swallowed, like so many others, in an endless stream of documented horrors.
“It’s as if the violence against Palestinians has become normalised. Since October 7, 2023, more than 2.9% of Gaza’s population has been killed—a proportionally higher loss than that of the United Kingdom (0.94%) during all of World War II.
“We refuse to let the world grow numb to this pain. Behind the unimaginable statistics are individual lives. Each death is grief to a family. Every loss is a world gone. This project is our attempt to humanise the unbearable tension between resilience and despair that Palestinians endure every day.
“The Lost Generation is dedicated to Shaban al-Dalou, his brother, and the enduring spirit of the Palestinian people.
“Over 20 individuals came together across nine months to bring this vision to life. This film can never come close to bringing even one of the thousands of lives back, but in a world where forgetting has become far too easy, we hope this helps keep memory alive.”
The film aims to humanise the unbearable tension between resilience and despair that Palestinians face every day. Generation Gaza has created a loyal following through their Palestinian football jerseys (and other items) being sold with proceeds going directly to humanitarian aid on the ground in Palestine. With the new film, the charity shifts its focus from clothing momentarily.
“The film tries to capture a form of resilience that does not stem from hope but from the absence of an alternative. It is not heroic. It is not optimistic. It is silent, stubborn and painful,” Ferhat Gurini commented.
The Lost Generation follows a lonely wanderer in a desert reckoning with personal loss in a void between dream and reality. It was made from a mix of new and archival footage, and inspired by the harrowing viral interview with the brother of Shaaban al-Dalou. It is a unsettling and poetic cry for peace.
Ferhat Gurini is a new director with a remarkable background. Having earned a First Class Honours BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, Gurini spent years working in international think tanks, as a Middle East editor for a magazine and in an NGO. However, in 2023 he found himself at a crossroads.
“I grew more and more disparaged by the lack of effect of the work I was doing, and I spoke with a colleague who said, ‘If you really want to make a difference, you need to influence people through culture like music or filmmaking,’ he commented.
This led him to change paths completely and pursue a career as a director. From skateboarding in his younger days, he had some experience with film and quickly convinced Copenhagen streetwear brand, BLS, to let him do brand films for the company, with a cultural focus. Simultaneously, Ferhat began making music videos for European rap artists and made a strong reputation for himself on the scene.
After working primarily as a one-man-band, often shooting and editing his own films, The Lost Generation is Ferhat Gurini’s first film in an established setup.
Credits:
Director: Ferhat Gurini
Production Company: Bacon
DoP: Tobi Aman Manczak
Producer: Alicia Moon
Executive Producer: Samuel Cantor
Editors: Thomas Irving, Frederik Marbell
VFX: Viktor Gelbek, Emanuel Kambo @ Bacon XO
Grade: Hannibal Lang @ BaconX
Sound Design: Mads Bergland
Music: Coolpacc
Production Design: Travis W. Sproul
1st AC: Anders Bévort
Gaffers: Andreas Moeslund, David Sizemore
Camera Assistant: Hussein Ali Kazem
Production Assistants: Sienna Bruun, Anja Giele
Best Boy: Mathias Hornum
PD Assistant: Sara De Gang
Graphics & Research: Jacky Su, Isabella Zibert
Communications: Lasse Cato
Special thanks to:
Storyline Rental, The Lab, Claudia’s
