Director of “Three Promises,” Yousef Srouji, prefaced the film, shown at the 2024 True/False Film Fest, by telling the audience one thing: to think of the children of Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war and realize that they don’t have the opportunity to leave like he and his family did. Those words were just the start to the heartache I felt while watching the film. 

“Three Promises” explores the hardest moral dilemma many Gazans are faced with: whether it is worth the risk to stay in the place they know and love or leave to protect their family. The film is a compilation of Yousef’s mother Suha’s home videos of their Christian family during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the early 2000s. As a way to both cope and document the horrifying reality for Gazans, Suha filmed her family’s everyday experience during the conflict. 

“Three Promises” is the 2024 True Life Fund recipient. Each year, as a part of the True/False Film Fest, festival participants raise about $20,000 for the subjects of the chosen film. This year participants have the opportunity to donate to Yousef and his family.

The movie is split into three sequences, each representing a promise made by Suha to God. As the war grows closer and closer, Suha promises God that if he keeps her family safe and alive, she will flee Gaza. Not until the third time making this same promise did the family leave Gaza. 

Through blending Yousef’s present voice on suppressed emotions and Suha’s past family videos, “Three Promises” displays a sense of community and a family’s fight for survival during the worst of situations. It is a beautiful testament to a mother’s love for her family, and the mental and physical battles faced by civilians in war. 

What struck me most about the film was the family and their friends’ comfortability with the conflict. As bombs and gunshots went off only as far as a five minute drive from the family’s home, they were not surprised or even very worried. Yousef’s friend was shown collecting bullets outside their house and photos of damage on their house from the Israeli army’s retaliation against the second Intifada. It was eye-opening to see how familiar they were with the violence, and how they had embraced it as the norm. 

It is nothing short of heartbreaking to know that this film was not made with actors and scripts, but with home videos with real people and violence that is even more prevalent years later. Seeing raw, behind the scenes footage of the conflict was gut-wrenching. Yousef did an incredible job portraying the horrific reality for Gazans, which is so important for people to see today.

Edited by Alex Goldstein | agoldstein@themaneater.com

Copy Edited by Briana Iordan | biordan@themaneater.com

Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com