In 2005, two young men from Gaza, Abdallah and Jehad, founded the group "Gaza Parkour." They adapted this sport—which demands that athletes traverse a course as quickly and athletically as possible, clearing every obstacle in their path, especially in urban environments—to the rubble of their home. Twelve years later, in 2013, Abdallah left to compete in a tournament. He never came back. Alone in Gaza, desperate to keep this fledgling tradition alive, Jehad began teaching parkour to younger boys. He grieved his friend's absence, but he also imagined what his own life might look like elsewhere. Director Emanuele Gerosa discovered that Abdallah had become a refugee in Italy, still chasing his athletic dreams but forced to work just to survive. The filmmaker managed to capture both Abdallah's story and the Gaza boys performing their acrobatics among the ruins—all of them suspended between the desire to leave and the daily struggle to endure in a poor, isolated place. Jehad is the most conflicted. He has applied for a visa to leave, yet he is the only family member caring for aging parents. Still, parkour—which creatively transforms an environment scarred by conflict—helps him imagine a normal life even in such a tormented place. For Abdallah in Italy, the opposite seems true: training and competing in parkour seems to trap rather than liberate him, stealing the very freedom that had driven him to change his life and leave his closest friends behind. Only in the credits do we learn that after filming wrapped, Abdallah had an accident during a parkour demonstration. Now he uses a wheelchair. For him, another challenge has begun.
Original title: One More Jump
Production countries: Italy / Lebanon / Switzerland
Year: 2019
Duration: 81 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Director: Emanuele Gerosa