REVOLUTION OF THE WIND
How autobiographical Syrian films allow ghosts back
Featuring: Reem Al Ghazzi, Ammar Obeid, Yazan Rabee, Samer Najari, Meyar Al Roumi, Afraa Batous, Eyas Almokdad, Émilie Serri, Wael Kadlo
Curated by Ahmad Alhaj
Online screening
Part 1: April 11 – 21, 2024
Part 2: April 21-30, 2024
RSVP: artearchive.org
Available worldwide
FREE / $5 suggested donation
We Syrians are haunted by the wind. The saying goes, “be ready, the past is coming.” And I say, “be ready, Syrian films are coming like the wind.” -Ahmad Alhaj
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is a series of Syrian autobiographical fiction and documentary films exploring migration, grief, memory and history following the political instability of the Arab Spring. Within this program, the wind is understood to be the central metaphor that represents destiny and which links the films together. Whether through unleashing its wrath, or by leading in flight, the wind is an element that guides the lives of countless people in ways unseen. Primarily shot across North America and Europe, the films present deeply humanizing narratives of Syrian experiences, shedding light of the contradictions and irreconcilable realities of longing for a past that haunts the present.
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is curated by Ahmad Alhaj and presented by ArteEast. This program is part of the legacy program Unpacking the ArteArchive, which preserves and presents 20 years of film and video programming by ArteEast. The program will be screened in two parts online on artearchive.org from April 11 – 21 and April 21 – 30. A selection from the program will be screened in person at IAIA, Institute of Arab and Islamic Art, on Sunday, April 21.
PART I
All roads lead to more, Afraa Batous, Germany, 2023, 78 min.
Documentary, Arabic with English subtitles
In the summer of 2020, Afraa, the director, and her three counterparts – Rahaf, Rawa, and Sara –set off on their very first road trip through Europe.
But this is no ordinary vacation, and neither are these women. Each of them came to Europe by a different route and had to make different choices in their lives until they met in Berlin and will revisit by their white van the transit points through which they first arrived on the continent.
Love, summer songs, the comedy that comes from trying to pitch a tent in the dark, Greek islands and even a little dancing – but also a distinctively European geography of pain points, with each stop marked by grief, trauma, regret and the dull roar of heartache.
Throughout their journey, the women share their stories and experiences, each bringing a unique perspective on displacement and migration. Along the way, they encounter challenges and obstacles that test their resolve and make them confront their pasts.
Despite the weighty themes, the film strikes a delicate balance by including moments of humor and joy that remind us of the resilience and strength of the human spirit. It is a journey to reflect on exile and home, on what it means to be a woman and a refugee, and on how far we have come as humans in terms of freedom of movement.
Damascus Dreams, Émilie Serri, Canada, 2021, 83 min.
Documentary, French and Arabic with English subtitles
Damascus Dreams follows a filmmaker’s journey to her inaccessible homeland as she composes a Syria that stands somewhere between reality and myth, dream and nightmare, past and present.
Memory is a Dying Horse, Samer Najari, Canada, 2021, 28 min.
Documentary, Silent
Trying to freeze time is an illusion. Whatever we do, life unfolds in one direction. Memory is a dying horse is yet another desperate attempt to challenge the irreversibility of time. A sparse, raw, somehow childish collage of reminiscences filmed on Super 8 between Syria, France and Canada. The whole is accompanied by musical explorations.
Silent Cinema, Meyar Al Roumi, Syria, 2001, 28 min.
Documentary, Arabic and French with English subtitles
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.
The Final Scene, Eyas Almokdad, Belgium, 2022, 98 min.
Documentary, Arabic with English subtitles
The Final Scene brings us back to the first year of the Syrian revolution through the story of the activist Orwa Al Mokdad, who documented the events of the first year of revolution. After leaving Syria to Lebanon, Orwa presented all the material he recorded to his brother Eyas – a filmmaker based in Belgium – to complete the film he was working on to show the peaceful face of the Syrian revolution. Eyas began searching the material only to discover another face to his brother and his comrades who risked their lives to bring the revolution into reality. Defeat and loss are part of the story of the peaceful uprising against which the world was united, where the Syrian regime managed to distort it and turn that peaceful face into a violent and bloody one.
