Gaza Herald_ Safaa Daban was not looking for the perfect place to open a cinema. The site she chose still bears the scars of war. For her, what mattered most was transforming a place marked by destruction into a space where children could experience a different reality, if only for a little while.
From the rooftop of a damaged home in the Gaza Strip, Safaa, an English translation graduate, and her sister launched “Hoss Cinema,” a small rooftop movie theater that screens animated films for children in an effort to restore a sense of joy and entertainment that has largely disappeared during the war.
Safaa, the mother of two orphaned twin girls, told Palestine Newspaper that the idea for the cinema had existed long before the war but circumstances prevented her from bringing it to life. After the destruction, however, the dream returned in a new form.
She said the war did not erase her vision, it inspired her to find a way to transform a painful reality into a space filled with hope. Rather than waiting for life to return to normal, she decided to begin with whatever resources she had.
A Place That Tells Its Own Story
Preparing the venue was far from easy.
The rooftop itself had been damaged by Israeli bombardment and required extensive cleanup and repairs before it could safely welcome children.
Safaa said she deliberately chose not to erase every trace of the war. Instead, she wanted the venue to stand as a reminder that people can rebuild and create something meaningful despite immense hardship.
Transforming a damaged site into a children’s cinema carries special significance for her.
“The children who come here don’t just watch a film,” she said. “They experience something entirely different in a place that was once associated with fear and destruction.”
More Than a Cinema
For Safaa, Hoss Cinema is about much more than showing movies.
Its purpose is to create a recreational space for children who have endured extraordinary hardship throughout the war.
She said children in Gaza have lost many of the ordinary experiences that define childhood, from playgrounds to recreational activities that once offered comfort and happiness.
The cinema was created as a small window through which they can temporarily escape the anxiety surrounding them.
The initiative also organizes free screenings for orphaned children, allowing them to enjoy a different kind of day despite the difficult circumstances.
Challenges Along the Way
Keeping the project alive has not been easy.
Operating a cinema in Gaza during the war comes with constant obstacles, including severe electricity shortages and the difficulty of securing basic operational needs.
Safaa said the project requires determination because creating a meaningful experience involves far more than providing a screen and a few chairs.
“It is about making children feel they have entered a safe and welcoming place,” she explained.
Despite the challenges, she believes the project’s continued existence sends a message of its own—that life can still find a way forward even under the harshest conditions.
A Small Screen, A Powerful Message
Safaa does not see Hoss Cinema as simply an entertainment project.
For her, it is an effort to restore part of every child’s right to joy.
The screen, illuminated atop a war-damaged home, has become a gathering place where children can share stories, laughter, and moments of happiness at a time when even the simplest pleasures have become a luxury.
“The message I want people to understand,” Safaa said, “is that Gaza is not only a place of war and destruction. It is also home to people who continue trying to create life, even from the ruins of pain.”
Through Hoss Cinema, a rooftop once scarred by bombardment has been transformed into a place filled with smiling faces, an attempt to prove that joy can still find a place, even in the harshest of circumstances.
