by Rana Khaled
From ashes of war, new artists are always born. In Syria, which has been suffering over the past years, a group of young filmmakers decided to challenge the current circumstances and launch their initiative “Abounaddara”. The project aims to produce documentaries, that show a more realistic image of the daily life in Syria.
Charif Kiwan, the spokesperson of the initiative spoke with Orange magazine and revealed some facts about the current situation in his home country.
What is Abounaddara initiative?
In our country, people are often identified by their professions so their names describe them. We wanted to have a unique name for the filmmakers, who aim to revive cinema to the heart of the Syrian society. The closest word was “The man with the movie camera” as it reminds us of one of the most important documentary movies (The name of the initiative literally means “The man with the glasses” – ed.). We wanted to make some documentary movies to tell the current story of our society. We couldn’t find producers, who are mostly looking to Syria through a geopolitical or religious perspective.
For long years, we tried to find an opportunity to work with a TV channel, but we couldn’t. That’s why we decided to use Internet to display the materials we’ve shot. When the revolution started and people were protesting for the sake of freedom and dignity, we – as filmmakers – decided to present the Syrian society.
What are the main messages you want through this initiative?
We are trying to find a connection between Syrians in spite of their different affiliations and contradicting ideologies. Our society is divided into many segments, and that’s why we want Syrian citizens to watch so many different things, that can connect them with the opponents. We want more human interest stories to interest the world in our fight for dignity.
What issues do you usually tackle in your documentaries?
We tell stories about people’s normal lives without having any certain ideology in mind. We intend to stay away from the mainstream political and media agendas. We are free and we don’t have any obligations, and that’s why we decided to choose the topics freely to express the reality of our society.
For example, one of our movies talks about preparing the beans’ plate which is a mutual daily habit of most Syrian families because we almost don’t have meat now; so beans became the most important thing in the life of an ordinary citizen. Although the movie tackles a very simple issue, you can still listen to the sound of war at the background. Also, our previous movie was about a girl who is telling how she plays the role of a mediator between her best friend and her boyfriend. The latter has recently joined ISIS after his house and life has been ruined because of the unstable circumstances in Syria. Although it’s a love story, it still tells a lot about the escalation of the events in the region.
Where do you screen your movies?
We don’t publish videos on YouTube. We chose to publish our work on “Vimeo” because activists usually use YouTube in Syria for presenting their contradicting opinion. Thus, we wanted to stay away from this hustle. We actually provide English and French subtitles for the movies, so that people from different countries can engage in it.We don’t usually talk about our work because we want people to concentrate on the issue itself not certain persons.We are trying to make the viewer think that we are covering everywhere in Syria. That’s why most of us prefer to remain anonymous.
How do you fund the initiative?
Our initiative is fundamentally volunteer. We try to get funding without renouncing to our underground or informal structure, which is not easy. Also we cannot join any particular institution or corporation so as not to be associated with any NGO’s agenda.
How did you tackle the challenges of Syrian refugees?
We were the first to talk about the problems of the refugees since 2012, even before media paid attention to it. We made about 20 movies about refugee camps in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and many other countries. However, we refuse to concentrate on the refugee issues as the sole issue linked to Syria nowadays.
Why did you decide to join Global Media Forum this year?
Freedom of expression is a kind of luxury for us these days. In the name of the freedom of press, the Dignity of Syrian people and their right to self-determination are being violated by the media industry, which is broadcasting our suffering without respect to journalistic, legal or ethical guidelines as they relate to a person’s right to his or her own image. Therefore, we need to work with the media community to reconsider this situation recognizing the right for every human being to a dignified image. It is not acceptable that the Syrian victim is being represented in an undignified way by those who pretend to be defending them.
