The consequences of the interminable civil war in Syria are not foreign to us, nor are the sufferings, wanderings and despair it causes. This documentary by Megan Mylan (Lost Boys of Sudan, Smile Pinki) succeeds in giving the spectator a more concrete dimension of the horrors of this terrible conflict through the fate of four Syrian families. Condemned to live in uncertainty and, in some cases, in great poverty, they sometimes experience moments of happiness loaded with unconditional love. Small clearings that make these portraits of infinite sadness more bearable.
The director took nearly five years to complete this film, shot on three continents, without narration or the intervention of licensed specialists, which leaves plenty of room for her subjects, as natural as possible in front of the camera, visibly confident to reveal themselves in this way. . Yasmine, mother of four children, stuck in the port of Athens for months waiting to be able to join her husband without status in Germany; Samra who has found refuge with her young sons in Turkey and decides to place them in the orphanage because she cannot take care of them; Omar and his teenage war amputee brother who are awaiting refugee status in the United States; Diaa, still in Syria with her disabled son, who is looking for his eldest missing for five years.
These life stories, staged with apparent simplicity, are overwhelming and leave little room for hope, but still show that life can sometimes be beautiful, despite everything. Absolutely everything.
Watch video