KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — Al Awda, a documentary about a 2018 Gaza flotilla directed by Singaporean filmmaker Jason Soo, will premiere in Malaysia on December 5, 2025, at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) in Empire Damansara.
The film, first screened at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2024, follows 22 activists aboard the Al Awda flotilla as they attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza in 2018.
Among them are Malaysian academic Afandi Salleh and Singaporean exile Dr Ang Swee Chai.
Drawing from footage that survived the boat’s detainment by the Israeli navy, Soo’s documentary captures the activists’ preparations, rehearsals, and discussions before their inevitable confrontation.
Audio recordings of interviews were stolen from Soo’s luggage, leaving the film to hint at the violence and imprisonment that followed. “The absence of any of these footages appears as a severe limitation, until we realise that the film is not about what happens during or after the hijacking of Al Awda, but about what the activists do on the boat before the actual confrontation,” Soo explained.
Since its debut, Al Awda has been screened at major international festivals, including Croatia’s Split Film Festival, Brazil’s Earth Film Festival, and South Korea’s Seoul Whistler Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary Feature.
The Kuala Lumpur screening will be followed by a panel discussion titled From Flotillas to Boycotts: Taking Action for Palestine, featuring Soo alongside Puan Sri Norma Hashim (Viva Palestine Malaysia), Nazari Ismail (BDS Malaysia), Palestinian educator Baha Hilo, and Xiang Xiang of GEGAR.
Entrance is by a minimum donation of RM30, with proceeds split between crowdfunding for Al Awda and Viva Palestina Malaysia’s winter campaign.
Registration for the event is available at bit.ly/AlAwdaKL.
The documentary will also be shown at the Palestine in Focus: Stories from the Land festival in Penang on December 6, 2025.
