Nobody

Nobody – بلا جسد (Without a Body)
Msallam Hdaib (Producer/Writer/Director):
2025, Jordan, 6’45min

In war-torn Gaza, a young man’s decapitated head must navigate love, loss, and the haunting question: Can happiness exist when your body—and world—are stripped away? After an airstrike destroys their home, a newlywed husband survives only as a sentient head. Through stylized stop-motion animation, the film follows the protagonist’s surreal journey with his wife and newborn son.

Stop-motion with hand-drawn textures, blending surrealism with grounded, tactile details. The sound design is a haunting mix of traditional Palestinian melodies, ambient warscapes, and silence to emphasize emotional voids.

Recommended for children under the age of 14: No
Technique: Stop-motion with hand-drawn textures, blending surrealism with grounded, tactile details.
SoundDesign: A haunting mix of traditional Palestinian melodies, ambient warscapes, and silence to emphasize emotional voids.

Team:
Written and directed by Msallam Hdaib
Illustrated by Amani Albaba
Edited, animated, sound design by Msallam Hdaib

Shown at
Cannes World Film Festival 2025 (finalist)
Yosemite Fantasy Film Festival 2025 (selected)
AXD Film Festival 2025 (selected)
Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film 2025 (selected, nominated)
T.I.F.A. – Tietê International Film Awards (Winner Honorable Mention)
Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival (Winner Honorable Mention)

Stills:

About Msallam Hdaib (Producer/Writer/Director):
Msallam is an audiovisual artist from Jordan based in Moscow. BA in Visual Arts, MA in Ceramics. Msallam is better known as “Emsallam” in the Arabic Hip hop community. Released numerous solo albums and performed in UAE, Jordan, France, The Netherlands, and other countries.
He says about his film that Gaza’s stories are often told through headlines; Nobody humanizes them through metaphor. The husband’s disembodiment mirrors the erasure of Palestinian voices and strength (even when they lose their homes, loved ones, and bodies, Palestinians can live and teach life). War stories are often told with a sense of pity. As a Palestinian-Jordanian myself I refuse to be pitied. “Nobody” is a testimony to the resilience and life-loving story of a headless Palestinian man who lost everything but gained the world in the process.

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