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Behind the scenes with Syria's 'emergency cinema' Behind the scenes with Syria's 'emergency cinema'
(5 months later)
The uprising in Syria started in March 2011. From April 2011 onwards, the Abounaddara collective, a group of self-taught film-makers in Damascus, has been producing one short documentary every Friday and launching it on the internet. Their work is a kind of "emergency cinema" – like “emergency healthcare, only by way of cinema”, in the words of Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the collective.The uprising in Syria started in March 2011. From April 2011 onwards, the Abounaddara collective, a group of self-taught film-makers in Damascus, has been producing one short documentary every Friday and launching it on the internet. Their work is a kind of "emergency cinema" – like “emergency healthcare, only by way of cinema”, in the words of Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the collective.
The collective, who recently won the short film grand jury prize at the 2014 Sundance film festival, have referred to themselves as snipers, waiting to ambush the Syrian regime from behind apparently harmless short films distributed on the internet.The collective, who recently won the short film grand jury prize at the 2014 Sundance film festival, have referred to themselves as snipers, waiting to ambush the Syrian regime from behind apparently harmless short films distributed on the internet.
Each week, they anonymously put out a film aimed at providing an alternative image of Syrian society, an image currently “battered by the regime and by the international media”. Five of these films will be screened on 26 March, as part of London’s Human Rights Watch film festival. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion exploring emergency cinema with Kiwan; Rachel Beth Anderson, film-maker of First to Fall; Tamara Alrifai, advocacy and communications director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and north Africa division; and Daniel Trilling, editor of the New Humanist and former assistant editor at the New Statesman. Each week, they anonymously put out a film aimed at providing an alternative image of Syrian society, an image currently “battered by the regime and by the international media”. Five of these films will be screened on 26 March, as part of London’s Human Rights Watch film festival. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion exploring emergency cinema with Kiwan; Rachel Beth Anderson, film-maker of First to Fall; Tamara Alrifai, advocacy and communications director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and north Africa division; and Daniel Trilling, editor of the New Humanist and former assistant editor at the New Statesman.
Abounaddara (a nickname for a man with glasses) is influenced in its work by Soviet documentary pioneer, Dziga Vertov, whose theories influenced cinéma vérité documentary making. Each of the collective’s films is either short, or very short – like filmic blogs or tweets. Each, according to Charif, uses “a very particular cinematographic language adapted to the urgency of our situation” – shots are polished and often static. These are not the shaky, blurred videos of protests or funerals that populate YouTube.Abounaddara (a nickname for a man with glasses) is influenced in its work by Soviet documentary pioneer, Dziga Vertov, whose theories influenced cinéma vérité documentary making. Each of the collective’s films is either short, or very short – like filmic blogs or tweets. Each, according to Charif, uses “a very particular cinematographic language adapted to the urgency of our situation” – shots are polished and often static. These are not the shaky, blurred videos of protests or funerals that populate YouTube.
Marcell – Part 1 is a recent offering from Abounaddara: a girl sits on a dishevelled bed talking about her right not to wear the veil, as shooting crackles outside. Confession of a Woman – Part Two came out a few weeks ago. In it, a woman sits on a sofa and talks candidly about her dawning realisation that sectarianism had started to infiltrate her way of thinking, where it never had before.Marcell – Part 1 is a recent offering from Abounaddara: a girl sits on a dishevelled bed talking about her right not to wear the veil, as shooting crackles outside. Confession of a Woman – Part Two came out a few weeks ago. In it, a woman sits on a sofa and talks candidly about her dawning realisation that sectarianism had started to infiltrate her way of thinking, where it never had before.
In The Woman in Pants, issued around four months ago, a woman chats about the idea that what bothers the "Islamic state" the most is her wearing trousers. She simultaneously alludes to the recent prevalence of foreign fighters and the country’s less strictly-conservative past – “I’ve been dressing like this for 30 years. I don’t ask why you’re dressed in the Afghan way. I don’t ask why you’re sporting a beard!”In The Woman in Pants, issued around four months ago, a woman chats about the idea that what bothers the "Islamic state" the most is her wearing trousers. She simultaneously alludes to the recent prevalence of foreign fighters and the country’s less strictly-conservative past – “I’ve been dressing like this for 30 years. I don’t ask why you’re dressed in the Afghan way. I don’t ask why you’re sporting a beard!”
In Children of Halfaya, a tent full of child refugees in Lebanon is filmed. The oldest-looking boy looks puzzled as he describes how Marwan, a friend of his brother’s, had his head chopped off during the breadline massacre of Halfaya: “Ten days later people went on the roof to hang laundry and found burnt heads and hands all around them.”In Children of Halfaya, a tent full of child refugees in Lebanon is filmed. The oldest-looking boy looks puzzled as he describes how Marwan, a friend of his brother’s, had his head chopped off during the breadline massacre of Halfaya: “Ten days later people went on the roof to hang laundry and found burnt heads and hands all around them.”
The collective is working hard and fast, with “very few means”, “to salvage whatever can be saved of this image of the Syrians”. This image, seen “through the lens of geopolitics and religion”, pits “a gentleman dictator against ugly jihadists” – “we have no choice but to use the aesthetics of cinema to produce a form of counter-information.”The collective is working hard and fast, with “very few means”, “to salvage whatever can be saved of this image of the Syrians”. This image, seen “through the lens of geopolitics and religion”, pits “a gentleman dictator against ugly jihadists” – “we have no choice but to use the aesthetics of cinema to produce a form of counter-information.”
For Andrea Holley, deputy director of the festival, its mandate – “to bring to life human rights abuses through storytelling in a way that challenges people to empathise and demand justice” – fits perfectly with what the collective are doing. For her, it’s all about using a “cinematographic language focused on individuals (as human beings) … putting a human face on issues that we normally only grasp in broad strokes through the information we receive via various forms of mainstream media and the web.” Scale, as shown in the picture of throngs queuing for food in Yarmouk, can be shocking, but sometimes individual stories are good too.For Andrea Holley, deputy director of the festival, its mandate – “to bring to life human rights abuses through storytelling in a way that challenges people to empathise and demand justice” – fits perfectly with what the collective are doing. For her, it’s all about using a “cinematographic language focused on individuals (as human beings) … putting a human face on issues that we normally only grasp in broad strokes through the information we receive via various forms of mainstream media and the web.” Scale, as shown in the picture of throngs queuing for food in Yarmouk, can be shocking, but sometimes individual stories are good too.
It’s the Syrian collective’s “consciousness of fighting the battle of images on both fronts” that, to Holley’s mind, sets them apart.It’s the Syrian collective’s “consciousness of fighting the battle of images on both fronts” that, to Holley’s mind, sets them apart.
Rachel Beth Anderson had produced "emergency cinema" in Syria and Egypt before she made First to Fall, which is about two young Libyans who leave behind their lives in Canada to join the ranks of anti-Gaddafi fighters. She was spurred to make it, filming over the course of seven months in Benghazi, Misrata and Tripoli, because the news had moved on. “I couldn’t believe that everybody [the media] was leaving when clearly the war wasn’t over … I think in any type of conflict you need this visual kind of document of what people are going through and how society is changing, and really to help people on the outside have a visual grasp of what’s happening.”Rachel Beth Anderson had produced "emergency cinema" in Syria and Egypt before she made First to Fall, which is about two young Libyans who leave behind their lives in Canada to join the ranks of anti-Gaddafi fighters. She was spurred to make it, filming over the course of seven months in Benghazi, Misrata and Tripoli, because the news had moved on. “I couldn’t believe that everybody [the media] was leaving when clearly the war wasn’t over … I think in any type of conflict you need this visual kind of document of what people are going through and how society is changing, and really to help people on the outside have a visual grasp of what’s happening.”
For her too, it’s about relating to those in the film. It was important for her to show the world these young Libyan men. “These guys have girlfriends, they play Call of Duty, they’re just like guys I went to college with.” With much of the international media filled with talk of extremists and despots, it’s this relatability that Charif is seeking to show: “We just hope that the world feels the humanity of our characters before the Assad regime assassinates them.”For her too, it’s about relating to those in the film. It was important for her to show the world these young Libyan men. “These guys have girlfriends, they play Call of Duty, they’re just like guys I went to college with.” With much of the international media filled with talk of extremists and despots, it’s this relatability that Charif is seeking to show: “We just hope that the world feels the humanity of our characters before the Assad regime assassinates them.”
• Human Rights Watch film festival is being held at cinemas around London until 28 March.• Human Rights Watch film festival is being held at cinemas around London until 28 March.