LPFF 2026: Chronicles from the Siege

A group of friends navigate life under siege, where simple pleasures and desires and hunger and survival become increasingly difficult to separate.

While Arafat struggles to survive amid hunger, isolation, and the lack of psychological support, a group of friends slips through wall openings to gather what they need to face the winter cold, only to find themselves in Arafat’s abandoned video store, where their friendship is put to the test.

Waleed pursues a simple pleasure that has become a rare treasure under the siege, while Fares, a relief activist, relies on his friends to clear the way so he can share a moment of intimacy with Huda. Meanwhile, Farah, seriously injured and in her final month of pregnancy, and her husband Saleh struggle to secure what they need to save her life and their unborn child.

Inspired by the director’s experience in Yarmouk camp, Chronicles from the Siege reflects the broader Palestinian experience from the Nakba to the present day, weaving a tapestry of ordinary lives upended by suffocating circumstances, exploring how siege distorts priorities and turns the simplest human gestures into matters of survival.