After world premiering to a star-studded audience at the 45th Cairo International Film Festival and screening at the 35th Carthage Film Festival, Dorra Zarrouk’s directorial and production debut on a Gazan family displaced after the start of the October 7th Genocide THE LIFE THAT REMAINS is set to compete for Best Documentary at the 25th Rotterdam Arab Film Festival, where it will be screening on May 31st.
Following the story of a Palestinian family who fled Gaza three months after the October 7th War. Now living in Egypt, they dream of returning to their homeland, but Gaza’s destruction casts doubt on their future, evoking the tragedy of a second Nakba.
Carrying the symbolic key to their destroyed home, they grapple with the loss of a place they may never return to. Through emotional reflections and images, the film immortalizes their journey, including the mother’s secret visit to Jerusalem to give birth to her twin daughters and the family’s departure through the Rafah crossing.
Dorra Zarrouk is a prominent Tunisian Egyptian star with over 80 works across cinema, television, and theater that have made her a critical success and an audience favorite.
Her latest outing as an actress was the Ramadan 2025 Tunisian TV drama SAHBEK RAJEL, which was a follow up to a film carrying the same name released the year before. She’s also currently working on Khaled Abu Gharib’s upcoming comedy film EL SET LAMA, where she’s set to appear alongside megastar Youssra, Maged El Masry, Amr Abdul Gelil, Rania Mansour, Yasmin Raeis, Donia Sami, and Entsar.
