French pay TV channel Canal+ will be hosting a Cinema for Peace broadcast event on primetime Tuesday evening (Feb. 17), kicking off with Loris Lai’s “Les Enfants de Gaza: Les Vagues de la Liberté” (“How Kids Roll”), followed by a live debate with the film’s two leads.
Directed by Loris Lai and adapted from a children’s book, the 2003-set drama follows two 11-year-old boys — Mahmud, a Palestinian living in Gaza, and Alon, an Israeli — whose shared passion for surfing cuts through the violence surrounding them. Set during the Second Intifada, the shows how the two kids form a bond that deepens under the guidance of Dan, a 30-year-old former surf champion who becomes their mentor. As tensions escalate, Mahmud is forced into a choice that could alter the course of his life.
The film, which Canal+ praised for “its universal message of peace,” was produced by Tarak Ben Ammar through his banner Eagle, alongside Elsa Ferri whose credits include Roberto Begnini’s Oscar-winning “Life is Beautiful.” “How Kids Roll” was made years before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2024, and before the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The post-broadcast debate, hosted by TV hosts Sonia Mabrouk and Laurie Cholewa, will reunite Lai with the young leads of the film, Mikhael Fridel and Marwan Hamdan, alongside Hugues Dewavrin, VP of Les Écrans de la Paix, and filmmakers Alexandre Arcady, Pascal Elbé and Jawad Rhalib. The discussion will explore the film’s origins, its themes of fraternity, and the broader question of how cinema can build bridges.
The initiative follows a live screening of the film that Canal+ hosted at Paris’ Mac Mahon theater, where middle school students engaged the director and cast in a Q&A, underscoring the film’s resonance with younger audiences.
