Everyday Activist - 4 Syrian Shorts (MLJFF 2016)

Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 06:30 PM

4 Syrian Shorts (MLJFF 2016)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

Short documentaries are my favorite genre, because I love to see how directors deal with the challenge of condensing their stories into less than an hour. The collection of 4 Syrian Shorts that will be shown at the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival include 19 days, 9 days – From My Window in Aleppo, Sniper of Kobani, People of Nowhere and Refugee Blues. The Syrian crisis is hard to understand as is the plight of refugees. These films shed some light on what’s going within the war zone as well as the displaced people.

The short film “19 days” could have been much better. I found it pretty slow going and confusing, because I couldn’t keep track of all the Syrian families coming into Calgary. Had they made a shorter film following only one family or had slides in between explaining the scene changes and the new refugees, the film would have been more impactful and engaging. I appreciated the scenes with the counselors and doctors to help them get settled. It helps someone from the outside understand the process refugees go through from their arrival in Calgary to finding a place.

“People of Nowhere” shows the plight of displaced people living in tent towns as well as being rescued from the sea. It’s traumatic and heartbreaking just to watch, forget experience. “Refugee Blues” takes its title from a poem written in 1939 by W.H. Auden. Watching the imagery put to the words, the poem could have been written for any refugee plight. The scenes towards the end were difficult to watch. With all the money spent on police those funds could have been used for something more constructive. Back in Syria, filmmaker, Issa Touma films“9 Days- From My Window in Aleppo” from his apartment in Aleppo, Syria, in August of 2012. If life was that difficult back then, we can only imagine what it must be like four years later.

What’s hard for me to understand is how this war in Syrian has lasted for so long. I remember watching a Syrian short film at the Edmonton International Film Festival back in 2010 talking about the bombing and devastation. In it the film maker says something to the effect of “Film the cat. Americans care about cats. Maybe if Americans see cats they will care about us.” The shot was of a cat sitting in an office chair among the rubble of a building. “Sniper of Kobani” is set in a similar scene. Among all the rubble, the young man shoots first and asks questions later. Unfortunately, this results in unintended victims such as children. He has remorse for his actions, but feels like there’s nothing else he can do. To quote him from the film “My dreams are over, but I want a better life for future generations. The things I’ve been through I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

4 Syrian Shorts will play at the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016 on Sunday November 20th at 5:45PM River Park Auditorium.

Afu Ocbasilassie, settlement counselor will be in attendance to discuss issues raised in the films. He was born in Sudan to Eritrean parents and holds a Bachelors Degree of Economics and Diploma of Social Science from Al Neelain University in Sudan. Afu is currently a Settlement Counselor at Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, which is responsible for resettling Syrian and other refugees in Calgary and southern Alberta.

Calgary Showtimes: Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016 > | 4 Syrian Shorts >