Grandmother Wore Us Out

“Grandmother Wore Us Out” / ستي تعبتنا (Setti ta‘abatna)
Collective work
2024, Palestine, 4’22min

Animation Stories. Stop Motion Animation Workshops Across Gaza

Abu Mohammad had it all figured out – how to stretch water for a family of seven all week. Everyone pitched in, queuing for supplies and hauling them back. Just as they were ready to rest, Grandma strolled in, looking oddly refreshed. Arrrggg. Made by a group of displaced children in Deir al-Balah camp.

Bringing Emotions and Ideas to Life Through Stop Motion, with Haneen Koraz, Shorouq Darwish, Nour A-Jawad
For children, stop-motion animation is more than just a technique – it is a window into their deepest thoughts and hidden fears. Through character movement, they do more than create scenes; they release their emotions into the world – expressing joy, anger, fear, and love with delicate adjustments to facial expressions and body movements. They imagine how a character speaks, how it sounds, how it gets angry or happy, and then they translate those emotions into vibrant, living motion. With each frame, they weave stories drawn from their own experiences, making the inanimate speak and turning ideas into moving images that tell their own tales. Animation here is not just a skill; it is a new language of self-expression, a free space for profound artistic exploration.

Stills:

About the mentors
Haneen Koraz
Haneen is a Palestinian artist from Gaza working in the field of visual arts, with a focus on stop-motion animated films. Since 2012, she has led workshops in government and UNRWA schools, training children to create their own animated films. She develops creative projects with children and youth under the harsh conditions of siege and displacement, believing deeply in the power of art as a tool for expression and healing. Haneen uses simple, paper-based stop-motion techniques to document children’s everyday stories in Gaza, especially those living in camps and marginalized areas. She has co-founded artistic workshops across the Gaza Strip and has directed and coordinated several short films that have received both local and international attention. Her work aims to amplify children’s voices and express their dreams and fears through vivid, heartfelt visuals. She has participated in the annual “Theatre Days” festivals and won numerous awards in animation competitions focused on children’s and women’s rights. Haneen has received multiple art grants, including from Al-Harah Theater, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture’s Creativity Challenge Grant, Shababeek Art Platform, the French Institute, Filastiniyat, Action for Hope (Lebanon), and the Palestinian Cultural Fund. Her recent projects include producing animated films with girls with and without disabilities. In 2022, she received the Taawon Award for Excellence in the Cultural Sector. She also completed a 10-day training in Lebanon on cultural management and project leadership in crisis conditions.

Find out more:

Instagram

YouTube channel

Patreon

GoFundMe

Interview with the trainers at Zippy Frames 

Join, follow, and take action together with @AC4Pal Animation Community for Palestine that is dedicated to support Haneen, Shorouq, Nour, and other trainers