Zoo
2022 · 8m · Jordan / Germany
Directed by Tariq Rimawi
Genres: animation, drama, family
Tones: melancholic, tender
A lonely boy named Sami wanders through the 'Worst Zoo in the World' looking for his lost football and forms an unlikely bond with a young tiger named Laziz as they search for safety amid the ruins of war. Inspired by the real Gaza Zoo — where animals killed during conflict were taxidermied and put on display — and the documented rescue of a live tiger named Laziz to a wildlife reserve.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Real Gaza Zoo with taxidermied war-killed animals plus the real rescued tiger Laziz, framed as a children's adventure animation — that's the right tension to mine and Tariq Rimawi has the documentary backbone for it. Strong premise.
Grounding a children's-adventure register in the documented reality of Gaza Zoo's taxidermied war casualties and the real rescue of Laziz the tiger is precisely the kind of fairy-tale-with-archive that the form demands. Eight minutes; the documentary weight is earned.
8:12 in 4K Cinemascope (2.39:1) with 5.1 surround, real-Gaza-Zoo source material (Laziz the tiger's actual rescue) — when the unusual element is grounded in documented history, the children's-adventure register becomes the safer container for the unbearable. Page only shows trailer, but tech specs and provenance both suggest craft commitment.
Festivals
- Red Sea International Film Festival 2022
- Festival Corti da Sogni Antonio Ricci, Giuseppe Maestri Prize for Best Animation
- Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Best Animation Film
- Bahrain Film Festival, Best Short Animation
- Tangier International Film Festival, Best Short Animation
- Beirut Shorts, Best Short Animation
- Baghdad Film Festival 2024, Special Mention from Animation Films Jury
- Sharjah Children's Film Festival
- Karama Yemen Human Rights Film Festival 2023
- Toronto Palestinian International Film Festival
- Falastin Film Festival 2024
- Safar Film Festival