The Syrian Documentary Days festival kicks off in Denmark in September; here are the details.
(This article contains: an overview of the festival and organizers, contact information, names of participating films, other important events within the festival, and stills from the films)
The Syrian Documentary Days Festival will take place in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, from September 7th to 11th, 2022, and will include additional screenings in the city of Aarhus, as well as in Malmö, Sweden.
Film screenings and discussions with directors
The festival will screen its documentaries in three venues in Copenhagen: the Cinematheque, Grand Theatre, and Hüssel Biograph. Here, audiences can see the world premiere of the short film "Will You Play It Again?" by director Ammar Obeid. The festival will also feature Danish and Scandinavian premieres of most of its seven feature films and four short films, including "Unknown Syria," "Republic of Silence," "Escape," and the opening film, "The Story Never Dies." Audiences will have the opportunity to meet most of the filmmakers and hear about their work. The festival also includes a workshop on producing and financing documentaries in conflict zones, and a conference discussing the role of art, literature, and documentation in shaping Syria's future.
Feature films will compete for the Audience Award at the festival.
“"So that it is not forgotten"”
The founders of the Syrian Documentary Days festival, Assem Soueid and Daro Hansen, are both from Syria. Assem Soueid has a deep passion for film, coupled with a strong belief in the need to inform people about the situation in his homeland. This inspired him to create the festival. “I started the Syrian Documentary Days festival because I’ve always been fascinated by how films and documentaries can impact people, how they can change their perspectives and broaden their horizons,” Soueid explains. Daro Hansen is a Syrian-Danish journalist and filmmaker with a long career in the field. She has been a co-founder since the festival’s inception in 2018 and believes this work is crucial for supporting freedom of expression in Syria and bringing the stories of the people behind the news to the forefront.
Contact information:
For more information about the program, please visit our website: www.syriandocdays.dk
To arrange interviews with the staff or a guest, please contact:
(Assem Sweid (Founder and Coordinator of the Festival)
Tel: 91812594
Daru Hansen (Technical Director)
Tel: 61287839
Films, discussions, and other activities:
The story never dies
David Henry Gerson, USA-Germany 2021, 83 minutes
summary:
“The Story Never Dies,” from award-winning filmmaker David Henry Gerson, is an inspiring and timely look at a young generation of Syrian artists who use their work to protest and address what is currently the largest and longest ongoing displacement of people in the world since World War II. The film is produced by Sundance Award-winning Odessa Rey. (Navalny)
Rapper Abu Hajar, along with other prominent creative figures in the Syrian uprising—post-rock musician Anas Mughrabi, members of Syria’s first rock band Bahila Hijazi and Lynn Maya, breakdancer B-Boy Shadow, choreographer Medhat Al-Daabal, and visual artists Tamam Azzam, Omar Imam, and Diala Barsali—use their art to rebel and survive in exile in this new documentary that reflects a struggle for peace, justice, and freedom of expression. It is a poignant and humane look at what it means to be a refugee in today’s world, offering inspiring and hopeful insights into creative responses to the chaos of war.
The film's opening screening will be followed by a discussion with the director, moderated by Danish writer Jesper Fink.
Unknown Syria
Ali Al-Ibrahim and Lauren Ince Brown, Syria 2021, 86 minutes
summary:
Since the start of the civil war in 2011, many displaced Syrians were forced to flee their homes with only the clothes on their backs. At the height of the war, there was no time to pack the essentials they needed to start a new life outside Syria, leaving behind their passports and identity cards that proved their existence. Now, they live in limbo, either inside Syria or abroad.
It is said that up to 80% of migrants today live anonymously, without any documents to prove their identity. This feature-length documentary follows the story of a man aiming to change that; an illegal forger operating undercover in Turkey to create passports and certificates for this missing group of Syrians.
With his identity concealed, our forger tells the story, taking us through his mission to provide Syrians with legitimate identity documents outside the system. Documents purchased from the Syrian government can cost thousands of dollars—or worse, can land applicants in prison. Therefore, the forger's work involves meticulously copying passports, family books, marriage and death certificates, and birth certificates.
Meanwhile, we follow four Syrian families struggling to live without identity documents in their host countries. Saleh and Marwa, a young couple, are caught in the crossfire because they cannot prove they are husband and wife. Quna, a grandmother, fears dying without any proof of her existence. Haifa, a mother of six, is stranded in Lebanon and cannot afford to register her youngest child with the state. Ali, a teacher, has children born after the war and excludes them from any formal education.
“Unknown Syria” is a film about war and its calculations, love, hope and humanity that mix them all.
You can meet the director for a discussion about the film in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
fleeing
Katia Gerges, France-Qatar 2022, 76 minutes
summary
“"Escape" is a poetic and intimate journey through exile, told through the stories of five Syrian female artists scattered across different countries. From Paris to Oslo, from Las Palmas to Istanbul, the film's protagonists recount their shattered stories and personal revolutions through their artistic practices. While painting a portrait of a generation of creative and independent women, the film generates a reflection on the sense of belonging and the role of art in reinvesting new life.
The film will be screened in Copenhagen and also in Aarhus, followed by a discussion with the film's director.
Republic of Silence
Diana Al-Jaroudi, Germany-France-Italy-Syria 2021, 183 minutes
summary:
It begins with the camera she received at the age of seven. Or perhaps it's at a time when life in Damascus was collapsing, torn apart by dictatorship, war, and international political corruption? *The Republic of Silence* is a fresco spanning more than a decade, in which the daily life of a monotonous existence in Berlin—inhabited by solidarity and love—intertwines with memories of lost time; life in Syria, a life turned upside down by conflict and often overwhelmed by fear (“evil makes a loud, terrifying noise”), by struggle and resistance. Diana El Jaroudi permeates the film with a nostalgic style, through snippets, voices, and textures—skin, bodies haunted by the past and the weight of trauma. At times, she seems to whisper, or perhaps she remains silent, as she did as a child, to avoid revealing her Iraqi accent.
Diana El-Geroudi will be a guest of the festival, and she will be interviewed after the film screening by Anas Hastrup, the former director of the Danish Institute in Damascus.
Zaatari Captains
Ali Al-Arabi, Egypt-Qatar-Jordan 2021, 73 minutes
summary:
The work tells the story of two friends trapped by their ambitions inside the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where each of them dreams of one day becoming a professional football player, and their dreams get closer to being realized when a world-famous sports academy visits their camp in search of talent.
The screening of the film in Copenhagen will be followed by a discussion about the situation of Syrian refugees in general and their lives in refugee camps.
I wish the world were a kite.
Camilla Bilsoe, Denmark 2021, 65 minutes
summary:
An experience in empathy and tolerance leads young participants from Syria and Denmark to a new understanding of themselves and each other. In the summer of 2019, a group of young people from Syria, Turkey, the UK, and Denmark gathered for a two-week theater workshop, where they were tasked with interpreting human rights in a collective performance. But first, they had to agree on how to interpret these rights, both artistically and politically—and suddenly, there was a stark, tangible difference between being from Syria and being from Denmark, even when they weren't consciously aware of it. Director Camille Bildes observes with keen awareness how empathy and tolerance emerge during the process, and how both can make a real difference in the world.
black ice cream
Syrian Film Institute, Syria 2022, 50 minutes
summary:
The documentary film deals with the story of Hassan, a thirteen-year-old boy who travels tens of kilometers to sell ice cream in the area where oil refining operations are taking place, after the war produced waves of displacement and a state of need for energy, and the impact of random oil refining operations on the environment and health.
The work is produced by the Syrian Film Institute and is the result of the efforts of a group of trainees within the Syrian Film Institute's training program, the "First Step" project, which was established by the institute in northern Syria.
Short films:
Four short films:
Will you play the role again?
Ammar Obeid, France-Germany 2022
World Premiere
Mudar, a Syrian actor, traveled to Germany on a visa from Beirut. He researches the journeys of refugees who arrived on foot for his theatrical production, exploring the real experiences of migrants along their path. After meeting with Syrian director Ammar Obeid, Mudar wants to stand naked outside in the cold of his back garden.
Between life and death
Badi Khalif, Germany 2021, 30 minutes
“Between Life and Death” is a documentary film about the Syrian revolution that began in 2011. The film highlights several stages, including ISIS’s control of areas in northern Syria, the demonstrations that broke out in Syrian cities, and the journey of refuge, which was the only option for hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
The essence of memories
Melanie Gobbi, Britain 2022. 30 minutes
Abdul Qader Fattouh, a young Syrian refugee appointed in France, seeks to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a skilled perfumer.
In the bags of strangers
Raed Al-Kour, Syria 2022, 8 minutes
A Syrian poet living in exile who writes poetry to show support for the revolution in his country, and of course, the revolution's influence on his literary works.
Events:
Workshop: Producing and Financing Documentary Films from or about Conflict Zones
Finjan's office: September 8, 10 AM
Danish producer and filmmaker Siné Børge Sørensen will lead the workshop, sharing her expertise with participants on how documentaries can be produced and financed from or about conflict zones.
Conference: Art, Literature and Documentation and Their Role in Building the Future of Syria
Blogos Library: September 9th at 10 AM
The participants in the conference will talk about their vision for the future of Syrian society, both at home and in the diaspora, through their artistic, literary, or documentary works about the Syrian revolution and the period of conflict that has lasted for more than eleven years.
Session 1: Khaled Baraka, Ali Al-Ibrahim, and Badi Khalif
Session Two: John Dahy and Jean-Pierre Khorto
Session Three: Andreas Bandak, Salwa Ismail and Donatella Della Ratta
Closing ceremony
Cinematheque, September 10th, at 8:30 PM
The winner of the Audience Award will be announced, and the festival will conclude with a performance by Syrian rapper “Mohammad Abu Hajar”.
More about the festival:
The festival provides a space for social activity. Everyone can join us in a fun and warm atmosphere where they can have some drinks and snacks with us, meet each other, talk and get to know each other and build new relationships that will strengthen the community, in addition to connecting filmmakers and producers with the public directly.
Movie clips:
The Story Won't Die
Republic of Silence
Black Ice Cream
Escape
Captains of Zaatari
I Wish The World Was A Paper Plane
Forged
(Source: Press release from the management of the Syrian Documentary Days Festival in Denmark)
