Conflict and Cooperation Cluster Event

Film Screening and Panel Discussion- Gaza Nippers: Hope Amid Devastation, by Majed Badra

Wednesday, October 15 | 5:00pm
Vere Gordon Childe Centre Boardroom

This moving documentary captures resilience and hope amid the devastation in Gaza. Through the eyes of children and families, it offers a powerful window into daily life, courage, and community in the face of unimaginable hardship. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with leading academics, filmmakers, and advocates, reflecting on the film’s themes and exploring broader questions of justice, memory, and global solidarity.

PANEL

Introduction and Chair: Ass prof Lucia Sorbera, Chair of Arabic Language and Cultures and co-leader of the Cooperation and Conflict Research Cluster

PARTICIPANTS:

Dr Matilda Mroz is Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Sydney, and the Deputy Editor of the Film-Philosophy journal (Edinburgh University Press). Her recent publications include Framing the Holocaust in Polish Aftermath Cinema: Posthumous Materiality and Unwanted Knowledge (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) and Elemental World Cinema: Cinematic Entanglements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air (Brill, 2025; co-edited with Tiago de Luca). Her current research approaches the filmed spaces of violence, genocide and colonialism from ecological and philosophical perspectives.

Dr Isabelle Hesse is Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Writing and the University of Sydney. She is the author of Reimagining Israel and Palestine in Contemporary German and British Culture (2024) and The Politics of Jewishness in Contemporary World Literature: The Holocaust, Zionism, and Colonialism (2016). Her current project examines how speculative fiction in Australia, Israel, and South Africa brings together settler colonialism and environmental destruction.

Mr Shamikh Badra, is a Palestinian researcher, activist, and PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong. He is a member of the International Relations Committee of the Palestinian People’s Party and is part of the elected leadership for the Middle East region in the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY). Shamikh co-founded the Northern Beaches Committee for Palestine in Sydney and the Gaza Nippers program, which introduces surf lifesaving to children in Gaza as a form of resilience and community care under siege. His research focuses on diplomatic resistance and settler colonialism in Palestine. He holds a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney, and has been published in State Crime Journal and in global academic collections on state violence and crisis. His work bridges theory and practice, from contributing to the intellectual foundations of Gaza’s Great March of Return to leading national unity efforts in Palestine.

Mr Majid Badra, is an artist and filmmaker from Gaza, Palestine. Trained initially in engineering, he later pursued his passion for the arts and graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, USA. His work spans political cartoons, comics, sequential art, and fine art, with a focus on visual storytelling that highlights social justice, identity, and the lived experience of Palestine. Majed’s illustrations and political cartoons have been exhibited internationally and recognized with awards, offering sharp commentary on both local and global issues. Building on this foundation, he has expanded into filmmaking and video editing, using moving images to further explore themes of memory, struggle, and resilience. He is also a member of the Northern Beaches Committee for Palestine in Sydney and contributes to the Gaza Nippers program.

Co-hosted by the Research Cluster on Cooperation and Conflict in the Vere Gordon Childe Centre and by Powerful Stories Network at the University of Sydney.

Image by Majed Badra.