Omar Amiralay: Sorrow, Time, Silence – Syrian Film Festival
- ORIGINELE TAAL AR, FR
- ONDERTITELING FR
- LAND France, Syria
- Langduur 109
Inleiding
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the director Hala Alabdalla, and Rosa Issa and Nadia Aissaoui. There will also be a reception.
Synopsis
In a Syria wounded by the tyrannical regime, Omar Amiralay dedicated his life to his country and to cinema. Forty years of political commitment and documentary filmmaking. In 2008, he interrupted his plans to devote himself entirely to looking after his dying mother. She died in 2010, Omar leaves us one year later. Five weeks before the Syrian revolution.
Inleiding
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the director Hala Alabdalla, and Rosa Issa and Nadia Aissaoui. There will also be a reception.
Synopsis
In a Syria wounded by the tyrannical regime, Omar Amiralay dedicated his life to his country and to cinema. Forty years of political commitment and documentary filmmaking. In 2008, he interrupted his plans to devote himself entirely to looking after his dying mother. She died in 2010, Omar leaves us one year later. Five weeks before the Syrian revolution.
This is not a portrait of the Syrian director Omar Amiralay.
This is not a cross-section of the current Syrian society, nor a longitudinal section of the fate of generations through fifty years under the yoke of a single political regime.
This is not an intimate and free dialogue between two friends united by the sacred fire of cinema and a passion for freedom.
This is not a testimony about a son’s love for his mother or his unwavering belief in justice. This is a feature-length documentary that aspires to all of these things at once, like the braid of a young Syrian girl.
Omar Amiralay was haunted by the Syrian cause, by the search for freedom and justice. He was one of the main opponents to Al Assad family and passed away in 2011. This film shows private moments of Hala Alabdalla’s discussions with Omar before his death, having now a unique testimony of his life.
At the same time, it is a broader reflexion about love and death, politics and cinema in the backdrop of the revolution.
This is a film, a letter, about the bitter pain of absence.
The program will feature four film screenings, three of which will be accompanied by three panel discussions, two immersive visual arts experiences, a collaborative vernissage, and a closing concert. Disclaimer: Views, thoughts and opinions expressed during these events reflect solely those of the artists and do not constitute endorsement by the European Union.
