The First Year (of the Gaza genocide in the media) is an upcoming interdisciplinary multimedia show shaped around a visual timeline of the events and media reporting on Gaza between October 2023 and October 2024.

The show is a bold collage of

  • testimonies (performed by actors or projected) of Gazan journalists, genocide survivors, experts in media ethics, academics, public figures

  • fictionalised accounts from journalists killed by Israel, dramatic reenactments based on conflicting media reports

  • interactive live polls where the audience votes on what they believe transpired according to media reports

  • presenting documents and artefacts to highlight the real-world impact of state crimes and media manipulation

  • video mapping to create a visual world of timelines, statistics, and the correlation between media reports, arms sales, and human cost of media misreporting

By examining media ethics and complicity in state crimes, we will spark critical conversations, encouraging media literacy and questioning whether repetition turns falsehoods into truth.

Written and directed by Sînziana Cojocărescu

Comissioned pieces by Hannah Khalil, Chris Thorpe

Produced by Claire Gilbert

Research support from Hurriyah Ziada and Jack Cinamon

In partnership with Shadow World Investigations, International State Crime Initiative, Shado Mag

Supported by Arts Council England, Queen Mary University Public Engagement Fund, Unity Theatre Trust.