In Yalla Parkour, the crumbling ruins of Gaza emerge as a physical and emotional landscape where defiance and survival intertwine. Director Areeb Zuaiter, from Nablus and living in exile, explores her roots through parkour—an art of navigating obstacles. The film begins in 2015 with Zuaiter encountering Palestinian youths practicing parkour amid war-torn debris. Initially, their athletic movements appear as youthful resistance.

Through Zuaiter’s narrative, these actions reveal a profound yearning for liberation in a constrained environment. For Zuaiter, these physical expressions against a fractured homeland reflect her quest for connection, an attempt to reconcile with a past severed by displacement.

The narrative weaves personal experiences with collective struggles, individual challenges mirroring broader human experiences. Gaza transforms from a mere location into a complex space—simultaneously a constraint and a source of resilience. Its ruins become a stage for moments of fleeting happiness, overshadowed by political and social challenges.

The...