fwomp If this documentary had been finished, and its primary film maker not killed, I have no doubt it would've been a very powerful spectacle to behold. James Miller (documentarian extraordinaire) was killed by Israeli soldiers before he had a chance to finish the film, but before he died Miller had uncovered some startling realities around the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. His focus was to be of the children on both sides of this ongoing battle but his death left the documentary unfinished and, thus, unbalanced.The entire focus was on the Palestinian children and how the Israeli tanks, daily bulldozing of houses near the Gaza Strip, and the fanatical behavior of militants-cum-martyrs has eaten away at common sense. Although this is undeniably so, the fact that ONLY the Palestinian side was shown gives the film a very uneven keel. Had someone picked up where Miller left it, I feel that the energy of its final impact would've been staggering and given even more relevance to Miller's life and, ultimately, untimely death. This is easy for me to say, sitting here at my computer, typing away, but that's how I see it as a film, not as a personal assault on any moral values I hold for (or against) the Israeli's or the Palestinians.I guess my main problem with the film was that it was trying to show "why" Miller was there (i.e., the effect this "lifestyle" has on a kids), while at the same time showing what a dedicated documentary-maker he was and how that ultimately ended up killing him. This pulled the viewer away from what should have been the focus -- the kids -- and put the emphasis on Miller. Why? I'm not sure.I'm not going to take any credit away from Mr. Miller or Mrs. Shah. They're both able film makers and camera-folk. Their shots are often equally incisive, poignant, and gruesome. But the fact that this film remains unfinished is the biggest shame. Perhaps that's the message they wanted to get across ...that the documentary was left undone, just as Miller's life was. But this doesn't translate to film very well, especially when dealing with such a volatile subject matter.

bob the moo James Miller was a documentary cameraman who died making his final film – a look at the day-to-day reality of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He died as part of that conflict when he was shot in the neck. This film charts his final work as he interviews the children who are the next generation of the conflict who have been born into the situation knowing nothing else.Being from Northern Ireland I will admit that I have grown up with my own complex conflict of terrorists and murders to come to terms with and thus have never made time to find out a great deal of the "truth" about the situation in the Middle East. As a result I have no bias towards one side or the other which I think is a good thing since many of the reviews on this site seem to be more about people's views of the situation rather than being reviews of the actual film. With such an emotive subject perhaps this can be excused but when I watched it I tried to keep an open mind to all sides of the argument and try and review the film as it was made rather than just ranting at people.Watching it myself I must admit to being a bit surprised by those who say it is biased towards justifying the Palestine actions or that it portrays Israel as a vicious army only attacking children for no real reason. Personally I didn't think it did either of these things and actually shows the opposite regularly. It manages to avoid issues of right/wrong by looking at the children, not the history of the conflict. True it might have been better if he had done this with children on both sides but simply following one side doesn't mean the film is biased towards them – indeed seeing the next generation of Palestinians talking about wanting to be martyred while attacking Israel could hardly be seen as presenting them in a good light. The main thrust of the film is to show how hopeless the situation is – both sides are right and both sides are wrong and whole generations of people seem to just want to fight and die. It is utterly depressing and the film does pretty well in bringing this out by looking how, outside of the political agenda the problem is ongoing. In Northern Ireland the will of the people is mostly for peace and negotiation but here you don't see that.Overall this is an engagingly depressing documentary. The way it turns at the end to be more about Miller than the conflict undermines it a little bit but it is easy to forgive given what happened and considering that the film does stand as a memorial to the director. Well worth seeing although I can understand why many viewers have found it impossible to get past their politics and just watch the film.

SugarGhost A new meaning to robbing the cradle......Watching these children through out their daily routine, of waking to the sound of gunshots, throwing rocks at the invading tanks, being trained for martyrdom, and attending "funerals" (which are seen more as a victory, for the cause) is heart breaking. The children know no other world, nothing else but losing their family, and being prepared that they will be the next to go. Its for the cause, they say, its for Allah, its for Palestine, and their people. The children are used as spies to go out into the street to watch out for trouble. They are children, they will not hurt them. Oh, but they will. Do not question whether a soldier will murder a young boy because he stands in the way of his tank, or gunfire. He will run over him, he will fire at him, he will take any life he can, because he knows that that child is growing up in a world of pure hate for the Israelis. That child will grow up, and kill Israelis. Its a very sad thought, but its true. These children experience NO childhood. They are born, and brought into training.They will not die of old age, they will not die of a heart attack at 55, they will be martyred and their families will all be glad. They will rejoice, and praise Allah, that a young child was taken from them for the greater good. To use their deaths against Israel. James Miller was also murdered during the filming of his documentary. He and his crew put their lives on the line to bring you this knowledge, and while you may have already had an idea that its hell over in Palestine, you've now gotten a chance to see it up close, without putting yourself in that danger.Freedom is something to fight for, its something to defend, and even something to die for, but these children die for nothing.

nielsty I saw this film at the Berlin Film Festival with James Miller's parents among the audience. Never before has a film touched me so deeply as Death in Gaza, and I can only recommend it to anybody, who likes a bit of the real world. Sometimes documentary can give you so much more than a fiction film.This film comes so close on the Palestinian conflict, that you can taste the dusty air of Rafah. The camera is among the young boys, when they throw rocks at the Israelian tanks, and you see them pick up pieces of brain from an asassined Palestinian, so they can bury him properly. And you see the Terrorists/freedom fighters use the young boys as their scouts when they plan to attack the Israelian military. There is no good grown up people in this film, but as James Miller said: The children are the future. His point was to follow first the Palestinian children and later the Israelian children. He was killed before he could finish it. I left the cinema with tears in my eyes, and so did half of the audience.