IndieWire I Trailer First Look
“Per the official synopsis, Zuaiter’s “nostalgia for her homeland resurfaces when she sees a video of Gaza’s young men practicing parkour amid explosions. Reconnecting with Matar, one of the athletes in the video, Zuaiter embarks on a journey through Gaza’s devastated landscape, exploring both parkour sites and symbols of Palestinian spirit.”
Hammer to Nail I Most Anticipated Docs at DOC NYC 2024
“Director Areeb Zuaiter makes her feature debut with Yalla Parkour, a movie that begins with conversations from 2015. It was then that she started speaking, virtually, with the not-yet-20 Ahmed Matar, a parkour specialist living in Gaza…His fate offers hope, but Zuaiter reminds us, through word and image, of the vast despair for most everyone else.”
CBS News | DOC NYC documentary film festival showcases real life on screen
“In "Yalla Parkour," filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter takes a unique perspective among the ruins of Gaza, through the athleticism of parkour.”
IndieWire I 11 Films to See at New York’s Premier Documentary Fest
““Yalla Parkour” is never the least bit glib about the horrors at hand, but that only makes it all the more triumphantly bittersweet to watch Ahmed and his friends reach for a better life by climbing the rubble around them.”
POV Magazine I DOC NYC Heats Up with Oscar Contenders and World Premieres
“This personal film by Areeb Zuaiter explores the director’s connection to Gaza following the death of her Palestinian mother. Zuaiter finds her subject in a young man who insists on emphasizing the presence of the Palestinian people by traversing the ruins and documenting the endurance of Palestinians—even if it means a singular being making a viral video by running, leading, and freestyling on whatever remains.”
Filmmaker Magazine I 18 Recommended Titles at 2024’s DOC NYC
“World premiering at DOC NYC is Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter’s feature debut, which examines her own relationship to Gaza as well as the artistic resistance demonstrated by its civilians in the face of violent oppression.”
INTERVIEW: The New Arab | Areeb Zuaiter on the making of Yalla Parkour
“The New Arab Meets: Palestinian director Areeb Zuaiter to discuss 'Yalla Parkour', a powerful exploration of Gaza, memory, and the search for freedom.”
ESSAY: Talkhouse | Life in My Hands, Death Before My Eyes
“Palestinian director Areeb Zuaiter on Gaza, her new documentary Yalla Parkour, which premieres at DOC NYC tomorrow, and what is yet to come.”
DOC NYC Newsletter | Yalla Parkour featured
“Filmmaker Magazine highlights DOC NYC films including Under A Blue Sun, Yalla Parkour, and other acclaimed titles from the 2024 lineup.”
INTERVIEW: Filmmaker Magazine | Areeb Zuaiter on Her Gaza-Set DOC NYC World Premiere Yalla Parkour
“We need to keep working, otherwise our voices will be buried and unheard.”
REVIEW: Asian Movie Pulse | Yalla Parkour (2024) by Areeb Zuaiter
““Yalla Parkour” is an impressive and quite moving documentary about human perseverance despite conflict. Areeb Zuaiter combines two narratives into one about identity, home and regaining a fundamental human connection.”
REVIEW: JoySauce | ‘Yalla Parkour’ Turns a Fad Into a Cry for Palestinian Freedom
“A time capsule of Gaza leading up to October 2023, Yalla Parkour is filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter's attempt to reconnect with her Palestinian roots through a highly unexpected source: DIY parkour videos emanating from the strip.”
INTERVIEW: Filmmaker Magazine | Areeb Zuaiter on Her Gaza-Set DOC NYC World Premiere Yalla Parkour
“We need to keep working, otherwise our voices will be buried and unheard.”
IndieWire | DOC NYC 2024 Awards: ‘Yalla Parkour,’ ‘Stone Mountain,’ and More Among Winners
“Among eight international features, Areeb Zuaiter’s feature debut “Yalla Parkour” was selected as the winner. “Yalla Parkour” had its world premiere at the festival, and centers on young parkour athletes in Gaza who practice the sport on a “conflict-scarred” landscape.”
REVIEW: The Movie Buff | ‘Yalla Parkour’: An Intimate Juxtaposition of a Gravity-Defying Sport and a War-Torn Land
“Whether one views “Yalla Parkour” as a tribute to Gaza’s indomitable spirit or a meditation on the weight of diaspora, it’s hard to deny the film’s emotional power. It’s a film about movement—physical, emotional, and political—in a place where movement is often impossible. Zuaiter and the parkour team have given us a reminder that there’s something undeniably human about the desire to leap, to soar, and to defy forces that might try to stifle us. And such movement, no matter how small, is already a victory in and of itself.”
INTERVIEW: Breezeway | 2024 DOC NYC International Grand Jury Award Winner- "Yalla Parkour"
In this video interview, Areeb Zuaiter discusses ‘Yalla Parkour’ at DOC NYC 2024.
INTERVIEW: The National | Gaza parkour community's defiant spirit propels new documentary
“Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter explains background to and significance of Yalla Parkour, which [screened] at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah.”
REVIEW: ScreenDaily | ‘Yalla Parkour’: Red Sea Review
“The resulting film, which has its MENA premiere at Red Sea after winning Doc NYC’s Best International Documentary award, offers a more muted, but still affecting, way of processing the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The emphasis is on Zuaiter’s exchanges with Matar, as well as his arresting parkour footage, and the bittersweet, introspective tone should make this an appealing festival offering.”
INTERVIEW: The Upcoming | Areeb Zuaiter interview on Yalla Parkour at Red Sea Film Festival 2024: From Gaza to Sweden
In this video interview, “Areeb Zuaiter shares the profound narrative behind ‘Yalla Parkour’, a film intertwining the personal journey of a parkour athlete from Gaza to Sweden with broader themes of belonging, identity, and the Palestinian experience. Zuaiter explains how the birth of her daughter during a tumultuous time in Gaza and a parkour athlete's resilience inspired the film's creation. She discusses the importance of human stories in shaping the narrative of political events, emphasising the film's focus on individuals' reactions to their environments.”
The National | Berlinale: Ten Arab and Middle Eastern films screening at this year's festival
An article showcasing ‘Yalla Parkour’s inclusion in the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. “Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter’s documentary Yalla Parkour is an exploration of a resilient parkour community that practices the daring sport in Gaza. The film first screened in New York in November last year, followed by a Middle East premiere at the Red Sea Film Festival in December. ”
Berlinale
‘Yalla Parkour’s official page on the Berlin International Film Festival website.
REVIEW: Al Ghad | “Yalla Parkour”: Between Restricted Freedom and the Search for Belonging [in Arabic]
“In her documentary ‘Yalla Parkour’, Palestinian-American filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter offers a striking and intimate portrait of Gaza before October 7, 2023.”
INTERVIEW: Arabian Moda | Berlin Film Festival: The Weight of Memory in Areeb Zuaiter’s YALLA PARKOUR
“We spoke to Areeb about the filmmaking process, the creative decisions and emotional weight of bringing this compelling story to the screen.”
VIDEO INTERVIEW: The Upcoming | Areeb Zuaiter & Ahmed Matar interview on Yalla Parkour at Berlin Festival 2025: Identity & adversity
“Areeb Zuaiter and Ahmed Matar explore the films profound themes of identity and belonging, showcasing how parkour serves as a metaphor for overcoming obstacles in a region where freedom is often restricted.”
Arab News | Films backed by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation triumph at Berlinale
“‘Yalla Parkour’ won the Panorama Documentary Audience Award (Second Prize). In her debut feature, filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter returns to Gaza, a place she first visited at age four with her Palestinian mother. After her mother's passing, a deep nostalgia for her homeland resurfaces when she comes across a video of young men in Gaza practicing parkour amid the chaos of explosions.”
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Fasllah | Director Areeb Zuaiter talks to Fasila about screening her documentary “Yalla Parkour” at the Berlin Film Festival [in Arabic]
‘Yalla Parkour’ director Areeb Zuaiter discusses the film’s Berlin Film Festival premiere with Ahmed Al-Ayad.
REVIEW: The Hollywood Reporter | ‘Yalla Parkour’ Review: Well-Intentioned Gaza Parkour Doc Struggles to Reconcile the Stakes of Two Realities
“Areeb Zuaiter, a Palestinian filmmaker based in America, connects with a Gaza-based athlete in a documentary that considers different forms of displacement.”
REVIEW: Cinema Daily US | Berlin Film Festival : ‘Yalla Parkour’ Blends Gaza’s Past And Present
“The acrobatic discipline of Parkour — where practitioners jump from high places attempting to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible — may serve as a powerful metaphor for those surviving in wars. This is exactly what we see in Areeb Zuaiter’s film 'Yalla Parkour’, presented at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival in the section Panorama for its European premiere.”
VIDEO INTERVIEW: ZDF | "Our voice should be heard." A film from Gaza before October 7, 2023.
“Palestinian director Areeb Zuaiter and parkour athlete Ahmed Matar from Gaza talk about their film Yalla Parkour’.”
REVIEW: Cineuropa | Review: ‘Yalla Parkour’
“BERLINALE 2025: Areeb Zuaiter’s tender documentary about Gaza-born boys indulging in parkour shows hope and joy amidst darkness.”
REVIEW: Qantara | It all started with a smile
“The documentary ‘Yalla Parkour’, which held its European premiere at the Berlinale, is a tribute to Gaza before 7 October—and an urgent appeal to support the survivors of the war.”
REVIEW: Il Manifesto: ‘Yalla Parkour’, freedom is a leap under the Gaza sky
“Berlinale 75: Areeb Zuaiter's documentary is the only Palestinian at the festival, in the Panorama section. The city before the war seen through a group of boys who practice parkour, giving a new meaning to the architectural landscape, while stories of life and emigration intertwine. In the meantime, the destruction has killed four people who worked on the film.”
REVIEW: The Moveable Fest | Berlinale 2025 Review: A Conversation Bounces Across Borders in Areeb Zuaiter’s ‘Yalla Parkour’
“The high-flying acrobatics of a group of friends living in Gaza allows a filmmaker to see the current state of Palestine in this moving doc.”
REVIEW: International Cinefile Society | Berlinale 2025 review: ‘Yalla Parkour’ (Areeb Zuaiter)
“It’s all these incredibly complex and contrasting points through which ‘Yalla Parkour’ offers up a true insight into the existence of the Palestinian people, both in their homeland and throughout the diaspora.”
REVIEW: The Film Stage | Berlinale Review: ‘Yalla Parkour’ Paints a Resilient, Risk-Taking Portrait of Palestinian Life
“…‘Yalla Parkour' is a bittersweet portrait of yearning for a better life while still carrying the guilt that even if personal freedom is found, it can’t be guaranteed for those closest to you.”
REVIEW: Gazettely | Defying Gravity in the Ruins of Gaza
“The Intersection of Movement and Survival: Parkour as a Quiet Act of Resistance in Gaza.”
REVIEW: Eye for Film | ‘Yalla Parkour’
"A thoughtful consideration of not just physical prowess but the emotional agility and resilience demonstrated by those growing up in Gaza."
Eye for Film | Looking forward to Berlinale 2025
“[Zuaiter’s] film features striking footage of [Ahmed Matar] and his pals as they turn bombed-out areas of Gaza into a playground of sorts but also touches on the Kafkaesque situation they find themselves in, particularly Matar’s failed attempts to leave Gaza even when he has a visa.”
REVIEW: Modern Times | ‘Yalla Parkour’
“PALESTINE / Creating an identity among the ruins of Gaza.”