The series "Fist of the Free" enters history from the gate of drama (Al Jazeera)
The social media audience's summoning of the series "Fist of the Free" now confirms that it is closer to a "promise" than a drama series. The work produced and presented last Ramadan almost conveys a mirror image of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, starting with the discovery of the occupation's spies to the capture of a large number of its soldiers. The series was shown on Al-Aqsa TV in addition to more than 32 other Arab channels.
Despite the modest possibilities evident on the screen, the artistic ambition of the director of the work and the honesty that was evident in the script of the work, indicate a creativity different from most of what is currently presented on the Arab art scene, and show the contradiction between a drama that aims only at entertainment, as opposed to a work that carries a national and ideological message at the same time.
Perhaps the military terms that spread on people's mouths, such as "zero distance" and that appeared in the Qassam Brigades' videos about the current war, first appeared in the series "Fist of the Freemen", as if the series was a final "dress rehearsal" for the operation that shook Israel.
Fist of the free people
Before presenting the story, vocalist Abdul Majeed Erekat presents the introduction song that touches the heart and prepares the viewer to receive an epic national feelings, especially when he sings:
O page of the Book of Victory and the lines of our
pride in blood. With tears of victory you perfumed our biography
The series deals with modern Zionist attempts to penetrate the Gaza Strip by infiltrating some undercover operatives, agents and spies of the Israeli internal security service "Shin Bet" into the Gaza Strip to carry out various tasks of assassinations, tracking and espionage. "Fist of the Free" reviews the ongoing resistance efforts in the face of these attempts, which are based on a scientific administration and a gradual leadership structure that confirms the resistance's keenness to protect the Palestinian people, and succeeds in uncovering a large number of plans before implementing them in different places, and at different times as well.
The work, which was produced and filmed in Gaza, reflects the state of arrogance that blinded the occupation from monitoring the plan for Operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" with its clear features.
If former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said that "Arabs do not read, if they read they do not understand, if they understand they do not work and quickly forget," the makers of "Fist of the Free" may now laugh out loud, stressing that "Israelis do not watch soap operas, and if they watch them, their ego will prevent them from believing them."
The series is written by Fares Abdel Hamid with the help of writer Tasneem Al-Mahrouq, directed by Mohammed Khalifa with the participation of Hussam Abu Dan, and produced by the Department of Artistic Production in Gaza. It stars Rashad Abu Sukhila, Ahmed Fayyad, Ghassan Salem, Hamed Hassouna, Raed Qandil, Jawad Harouda, Zuhair Al-Bilbeisi, Hassan Al-Khatib, Safaa Hosni, Nevin Ziara, Raeda Abu Dayyeh, Mervat Mahmoud, Diaa Baroud, and Ahmed Al-Najjar.
The first paradox. A professional series for an amateur group
If the steadfastness of the people of Gaza is a real miracle that pushes ordinary Europeans and Americans to wonder and search for its causes, the paradox of "The Fist of the Free" is the production of a professional series that was carried out by a huge group of amateurs and volunteers, whose largest wage – the hero of the work – reached three thousand dollars, a number that turns to zero if compared to the wage of any fourth-grade actor in an Egyptian series.
As for lighting, the screen provides clear information about the use of regular lamp lighting, where the scenes of "night – outside" are satisfied with the light of street lamps, and "daylight – outside" with sunlight. But the work revolves around a continuous secret military and security action, so the light of the lamps, with their weakness and inability to express and direct the viewer's emotions, was predominant over the work.
The cameras used were not in the best light, they were modest, as well as the angles of photography and the stability of the staff, and this was only due to the use of amateur photographers or relatively old cameras in Gaza, which has been under siege for more than 16 years, with no camera and no pencil.
Just as photography and lighting were a reinvention of this world, the acting performance was honest and pure without techniques or pretense, despite the slow movement that often created a barrier between the viewer and the work, especially in the fighting scenes and chases that required a different rhythm in the movement of the actor himself, and of course techniques that are not available to adjust the rhythm with the viewer's ability to follow.
However, the protagonists of the work worked hard to control the emotion to be consistent with the situation, and the performance came as a copy of it in social reality - especially in family scenes with a few exceptions - so that the actors and actresses gave reactions higher than required, or much less than required.
What really distinguishes the performance is the familiarity that made the resisters more like relatives of the viewer and not actors, but honesty leads to believe that they are indeed resisters.
The second paradox. An artistic drama produced by a military resistance
The second paradox seems self-evident to some, which is that the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" produces an artistic drama, but the reality of the matter is that this wild imagination to the extent of matching with a future that only its owners imagined, is made only by the imagination of an artist, which is very natural and paradoxic, as the dream always remains for the artist, achieving the dream for the world, and securing the dream for the steadfast fighter.
Perhaps what confirms the existence of this trend is the responsibility assumed by the most prominent Palestinian military commander Muhammad Deif for the technical committee of the Islamic Bloc, the student framework of Hamas, during his activity in the student council of the Islamic University, where he graduated in 1988 after obtaining a bachelor's degree in science (biology).
What he confirms now is the honor that the makers and heroes of the work received in the presence of Palestinian leader and politician Yahya Sinwar in May 2022.
Imagine in 2022 and in a clear challenge a series called (Fist of the Free) is broadcast, the drama of the series explains the plan adopted by Hamas leaders in #طوفان_الأقصى and Yahya Sinwar honored the heroes in it. As usual, the Israeli Mossad underestimated this series until it was surprised on October 7 by the flood of Al-Aqsa, which is... pic.twitter.com/uBXzo6He6H
— Dr. Hossam Fawzi Jabr (@HOSAM_MOKBEL) December 3, 2023
Despite what was said about the emergence of the idea of producing the work in response to the series Chaos and other series produced by Netflix, which put forward the narrative of the occupation, especially about its spies, and established it as a fact, and away from the denial of this matter by the head of the artistic production department in Hamas, Muhammad al-Thuraya, the real paradox is the transformation of "The Fist of the Free" into an original act that entered the door of drama, and was summoned by the viewer from history, to confirm the constants of the Palestinian struggle, and document a reality that exudes sacrifice, redemption and determination.
More important than action or reaction is the attention paid by the resistance to exposing the false narrative of the occupation and replacing the Palestinian narrative of the facts as they happened, an ambition that is especially necessary in light of the spread of the false narrative of the occupation in the world.
Source : Al Jazeera