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Citizen Osama follows Palestinian journalist Osama Al-Ashi as he films life and destruction in northern Gaza while facing the same danger, shortages and uncertainty as the people he documents. Director Ahmed Hassouna’s 2026 documentary makes that overlap its subject: Al-Ashi is a working journalist, a husband and a new father trying to protect and provide for his family.
What Citizen Osama is about
Al-Ashi records airstrikes, devastation, hunger and the routines that continue amid danger. The film also stays close to his wife, newborn and parents, grounding the reporting in the needs of a particular family rather than treating the journalist as a camera detached from the life around him.
Hassouna describes that tension in the Venice Biennale director statement: “A journalist is not a soulless camera; he is a man struggling to find water, fighting to obtain food and constantly worrying about how to find milk for his newborn baby or how to feed his wife so she can breastfeed their child.” The film’s central pressure is the collision of professional witness with ordinary obligations: to keep filming, and to care for the people who depend on him.
Two cameras, and the distance between witnessing and being seen
The images come from more than one perspective. Al-Ashi records events himself, while Hassouna films Al-Ashi at work and at home. Screen International’s review describes this as a layered camera relationship and notes shifts in aspect ratio between standard footage and phone-captured material. Truthdig’s review likewise distinguishes Al-Ashi’s real-time recordings from footage made by Hassouna.
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This is not simply a film assembled entirely from Al-Ashi’s camera. Hassouna’s presence makes the act of reporting visible: the viewer sees both what Al-Ashi records and a person trying to record while living through the same conditions. That construction gives the film an intimate, self-conscious form without erasing the difference between the journalist’s footage and the director’s.
Survival is part of the story, not a break from it
Family care, food, water, fear and the loss of colleagues sit alongside the work of documenting events. The film’s attention to these needs shows the costs of staying present: recording devastation does not suspend the effort to find necessities or look after a newborn. The The National review emphasizes this patient focus on survival and the contrast between Al-Ashi’s professional role and his basic needs.
Rank #2
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The account is not limited to unbroken despair. IDFA’s synopsis notes occasional joking and banter among journalists; AFI FEST’s description also points to everyday rituals, tenderness, humor and hope. Those moments do not soften the danger. They show the relationships and small acts of ordinary life that persist within it.
Form, chronology and what the film asks viewers to follow
Rather than relying on extensive political exposition or a tightly explained chronology, the film’s force comes from close observation of Al-Ashi’s daily life and the work of recording it. That is Truthdig’s critical reading of the film’s approach. Viewers are asked to attend to the repeated pressures of reporting and family survival, not only to a sequence of events explained from a distance.
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That choice keeps the focus personal, but it also means the documentary should not be treated as a standalone account of the wider conflict or as independent verification of every event it depicts. Its subject is Al-Ashi, his family and his experience of witnessing under danger.
Film details and runtime
| Detail | Listing |
|---|---|
| Title | Citizen Osama; also listed as Al mowaten Osama or Al Mowaten Osama |
| Year | 2026 |
| Countries | Palestine and France |
| Language | Arabic |
| Director | Ahmed Hassouna |
| Featured participant | Osama Al-Ashi |
| Runtime | 69 minutes at the Venice Biennale; 68 minutes in IDFA’s listing; 71 minutes at AFI FEST |
| Editing and music | Denis Le Paven (editing); Rasmus Steen (music) |
The runtimes are institution-specific listings, not a single settled figure. Venice credits Hassouna as cinematographer, while IDFA credits Yousef Al Masharawi. Production credits include Coorigines Production, Masharawi Fund for Films & Filmmakers and Filcam Media Production. The Venice Biennale and IDFA identify The Party Film Sales as world sales; Coorigines Production identifies it as the international sales company.
Rank #4
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Where to watch Citizen Osama
The available institutional listings establish festival exhibition, including an IDFA screening copy in DCP format, but do not establish a consumer streaming service, disc release or territory-specific home-video date. A DCP listing describes a festival exhibition format, not a home-viewing edition. For current screenings or distribution announcements, consult the Venice Biennale listing or Coorigines Production.
Content note
Cinema/Chicago lists “Extreme violence” as a content consideration for the film. Readers sensitive to depictions of violence should take that warning into account.
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