Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait

Exiled in Paris due to the Syrian Civil War, film director Ossama Mohammed felt guilty about being safe from the war while being unable to bring attention to the horrific events taking place in his country. At the same time, Wiam Simav Bedirxan, a teacher of Kurdish origin, began capturing footage of the Siege of Homs. One day, Bedirxan contacted Mohammed and asked him: ‘If your camera were here, in Homs, what would you be filming?’ From that question, a collaborative work between the two directors was born: by combining footage of the events in Homs with a collection of YouTube videos posted by around 1,000 Syrians, emerges a film that shows the power of technology in sharing information.

Discussion with director Ossama Mohammed.

Duration: 92’
Production year: 2014
Country: SY, FR, US, LB
Language: AR Subtitles: PT

Cannes Film Festival 2014 – Special Screenings Section
London Film Festival BFI 2014 – Grierson Award

Ossama Mohammed, Wiam Simav Bedirxan

Born in Syria in 1954, Ossama Mohammed is one of the most influential Syrian filmmakers. Graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, his films vary between fiction and documentary and examine issues of power, conflict and humanity. One of his main concerns has been to make the rest of the world aware of the inhumane acts and oppressive regime that rules Syria, starting this critique from the beginning of his career, with films such as Stars in Broad Daylight (1988). Exiled in Paris since he publicly criticised the Assad regime, these circumstances did not deter him from his mission, creating, in 2014, the documentary Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait in collaboration with Wiam Simav Berdixan.

Wiam Simav Berdixan is a film director of Kurdish origin who began her film work while she was a teacher in Homs, deciding to document the events of the famous siege of the city. Inspired by Ossama Mohammed, she decided to contact the director and later met with him in Paris to collaborate. Their joint film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, in the Special Screenings section.

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Original title: Ma'a al-Fidda

Ossama Mohammed, Wiam Simav Bedirxan

Credits

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