Silent Cinema

Subtitle: English

Upon graduating from a film studies program in Paris, Meyar al-Rumi returns to his native Damascus, eager to start making films. But when the script he proposes is rejected by the censors, he is instead inspired to make a portrait of the Syrian filmmakers who have been affected most by censorship. The film is a courageous short documentary on filmmaking in Syria.

Meyar Al Roumi
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1973, Meyar Al Roumi studied and worked as a photographer before traveling to Paris where he studied cinema at the University Paris VIII and FEMIS from which he graduated in 2001. He has worked as a director of photography on a number of documentary and fiction films in France and in Syria including: Flood in Baath Country (Omar Amiralay, 2003), Blue-Grey (Mohammad AL-Roumi, 2004), Contre la Montée (Damien Bertrand, 2003), Transit (Bani Khoshnoudi, 2004), among others. He has also directed a number of documentaries, including, A Silent Cinema (Sinama samita, 2001), Waiting for the Day (Thilal al-Ayyam al-Ramadiyya, 2003), and Le Club de l’avenir (Nadi el-Mustaqbal, 2006). In 2007, he completed a feature-length documentary that paints the portrait of a few taxi drivers in Damascus: Six Ordinary Stories. Meyar Al Roumi has also directed fiction films, including The Voyage of Rabeya (Rahlat Rabeya, 2005) and Journey (Rahleh, 2011). He recently completed his first feature-length fiction film, Round Trip. In 2022 he finished his second feature-length fiction film The Return

Meyar Al Roumi

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1973, Meyar Al Roumi studied and worked as a photographer before traveling to Paris where he studied cinema at the University Paris VIII and FEMIS from which he graduated in 2001. He has worked as a director of photography on a number of documentary and fiction films in France and in Syria including: Flood in Baath Country (Omar Amiralay, 2003), Blue-Grey (Mohammad AL-Roumi, 2004), Contre la Montée (Damien Bertrand, 2003), Transit (Bani Khoshnoudi, 2004), among others. He has also directed a number of documentaries, including, A Silent Cinema (Sinama samita, 2001), Waiting for the Day (Thilal al-Ayyam al-Ramadiyya, 2003), and Le Club de l'avenir (Nadi el-Mustaqbal, 2006). In 2007, he completed a feature-length documentary that paints the portrait of a few taxi drivers in Damascus: Six Ordinary Stories. Meyar Al Roumi has also directed fiction films, including The Voyage of Rabeya (Rahlat Rabeya, 2005) and Journey (Rahleh, 2011). He recently completed his first feature-length fiction film, Round Trip. In 2022 he finished his second feature-length fiction film The Return

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