Syria – We Are Movie Geeks

NEIGHBOURS – SLJFF Review

The 2022 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival is virtual again this year, meaning all films can be streamed through the festival website through March 13. For tickets and more information, visit their website https://jccstl.com/arts-ideas/st-louis-jewish-film-festival. One the best films at this year’s St. Louis Jewish Film Festival is

One of this year’s best Jewish-interest films is “Neighbours” (Nachbarn), a Swiss film set in Syria 40 years ago, in a small village where Kurdish and Jewish families are neighbors. Actually, at this point, there is only one Jewish family left in the village, although there used to be more, a change due to the increasingly hostile policies of the ruling Baathist party. There is a lot of sly satire and humor in this child-centric tale from Kurdish-Swiss director Mano Khalil. Partly based on the director’s bittersweet memories of his own childhood, he captures the joys and heartbreak of childhood and also explores the absurdity of bigotry, antisemitism, and conflict, through the lens of those childhood memories.

“Neighbours” begins with a framing device in the present, where a Kurdish extended family who fled the violence in Syria are living in a refugee camp and waiting to hear from someone they reached out to in Switzerland. The reply comes in the form of a picture and a request that the family patriarch (Sherzad Abdulla) identify the people in it. But it is not a photo, but a child’s drawing, a drawing that sparks childhood memories of 40 years ago.

The flashback takes us back 40 years to childhood memories, when the middle-aged man was a seven-year-old boy in a small mostly Kurdish village on the Turkish-Syrian border. Starting with the subject of the drawing, little Sero (Serhed Khalil) and his beloved uncle Aram (Ismail Zagros) prank the Turkish border guards by releasing balloons in the Kurdish national colors. It is something sure to enrage the Turkish guards but it otherwise a harmless thumbing their noses at a border that divided Kurdish families, including theirs, and left them outsiders in both countries on either side.

Uncle Aram is Sero’s father’s younger brother, a fun-loving, mischievous young man whom the seven-year-old adores. In their little Kurdish village on the border, everyone knows everyone, and everyone gets along, while the kids tear around the village, playing, while the village elders watch and shake their heads. The seven-year-old’s neighbors are a Jewish family, who his family has known and been friendly with for years. Sero even helps them on the Sabbath by lighting the lamps and stove, something Aram used to do too when he was younger. There were once several Jewish families in the village but they are now the only ones left, as others have fled. They would like to leave too but now the Baathist government won’t recognize Jews as citizens or give them passports.

The village is waiting for the arrival of two things: the electrical power and the new teacher. The power lines have been in place for some time and village homes have been wired for electricity but no power has arrived yet. Sero particularly longs for electricity so he can watch cartoons like the kids in the city do – and he continually pesters his parents for a TV.

Still, there is a great deal of humor and the charm in this childhood world of play, although there is a serious side to this dramedy, and tragic events eventually strike. A lot of that charm comes from young Serhed Khalil as Sero, a sweet-faced boy full of mischief and playful joy. But all the cast bring warmth and appeal to their roles, particularly Ismail Zagros as Aram, and Uygurlar Derya as Hannah, the daughter of the Jewish family. The Jewish parents would like to escape Syria, and especially want to get their daughter out, but Hannah does not want to leave her home behind, and particularly her childhood friend Aram.

While there is still no electricity, the new teacher (Jalal Altawil) does arrive, a rigid true-believer in Assad’s Baathist party, whose ideology is a mix of communist and pan-Arab ideas, without really being either, but with a big dose of antisemitism. The teacher thinks instilling these antisemitic ideas are as much his job as teaching reading and writing. One of the first things the teacher does is insist that the children only speak Arabic in class and at home. Sero does not much like school anyway but he is really at a loss when the teacher insists that everyone speak only Arabic, which he neither speaks nor understands, leaving Sero struggling to catch up. Sero doesn’t believe what the teacher says about his kindly neighbors but other children buy in to the lies and other evilness.

The teacher is the outsider who brings hate and antisemitism to the village and disrupts their quiet lives, along with a local man who is the village’s sole Baath party member, a membership that gave him a house and a job despite his illiteracy. These two are the primary villains but other representatives of the authoritarian government also bring either danger or a callous indifference and corruption. The film has a powerful, satiric punch in its chilling depiction of how hatred is taught, as the teacher indoctrinates his charges in antisemitic ideas that include the old “blood libel.” Sero’s parents and grandparents, and his kindly Jewish neighbors, are the counterbalance to this, with their long friendship and willingness to help each other.

“Neighbours” is both a touching, warm human tale laced with humor and childhood appeal, and a pointed satiric look at the roots of hate in Syria. “Neighbours,” in Kurdish, Arabic, English and Hebrew with English subtitles, is available to stream as part of the 2022 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival through March 13. For tickets and more information, visit their website https://jccstl.com/arts-ideas/st-louis-jewish-film-festival.

NEIGHBOURS – SLIFF Review

There is a lot of humor and sly satire in this child-centric tale looking at the roots of hate in the Middle East. Swiss-Kurdish director Mano Khalil’s NEIGHBOURS (“Nachbarn”) is a Swiss film set in Syria 40 years ago, in a small village where Kurdish and Jewish families are neighbors. Actually, at this point, there is only one Jewish family left in the village, although there used to be more, a change due to the increasingly hostile policies of the ruling Syrian Baathist party. Partly based on the director’s bittersweet memories of his own childhood, he captures the joys and heartbreak of childhood and also explores the absurdity of bigotry, antisemitism, and conflict, through the lens of those childhood memories.

“Neighbours” begins with a framing device in the present, where a Kurdish extended family is living in a refugee camp after fleeing the violence in Syria, where they are waiting to hear from someone they reached out to in Switzerland. The reply comes in the form of a picture and a request that the family patriarch (Sherzad Abdulla) identify the people in it. It is not a photo, but a child’s drawing, a drawing that sparks childhood memories of 40 years ago.

Uncle Aram is Sero’s father’s younger brother, a fun-loving, mischievous young man whom the seven-year-old adores. In their little Kurdish village on the border, everyone knows everyone, and everyone gets along. While the kids tear playfully around the village, the village elders watch and shake their heads about “kids these days.” Sero’s neighbors are a Jewish family who his family has known, and been friendly with, for years. Sero helps them on the Sabbath by lighting the lamps and stove, something his uncle Aram used to do too when he was younger. Once, there were several Jewish families in the village but they are now the only ones left, as others have fled. They would like to leave too but now the Baathist government won’t recognize Jews as citizens or give them passports.

While there is still no electricity, a new teacher, Wahid Hanouf (Jalal Al Tawil), does arrive. The teacher is a rigid true-believer in Assad’s Baathist party, whose ideology is a mix of communist and pan-Arab ideas, without really being either, but with a big dose of antisemitism. The teacher thinks instilling these antisemitic ideas are as much his job as teaching reading and writing. One of the first things the teacher does is insist that the children only speak Arabic in class and at home. Sero does not much like school anyway but he is really at a loss now when the teacher insists that everyone speak only Arabic, which he neither speaks nor understands. When the teacher starts repeating old antisemitic myths, Sero doesn’t believe what the teacher says about his kindly neighbors, but other children buy in to the lies and other evilness.

The teacher is the outsider who brings hate and antisemitism to the village, and disrupts their quiet lives. He is helped along by a local man who is the village’s sole Baath party member, a membership that gave him a house and a job despite his illiteracy. These two are the primary villains of this child’s-eye-view story but other representatives of the authoritarian government in the story, such as the border guards and bureaucrats, also bring either danger or a callous indifference and corruption. The film has a powerful, satiric punch in its chilling depiction of how hatred is taught, as the teacher indoctrinates his charges in antisemitic ideas that include the old “blood libel.” Sero’s parents and grandparents, and his Jewish neighbors, are the counterbalance to this, with their long friendship and willingness to help each other.

NEIGHBOURS is both a touching, warm human tale laced with humor and childhood appeal, and a pointed satiric look at the roots of hate, not just in Syria. NEIGHBOURS, in Kurdish, Arabic, English and Hebrew with English subtitles, plays at SLIFF on Tuesday, Nov. 9 ,at 7pm and Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 4pm

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

LIMBO – Review

*Vikash Bhai (left) stars as “Farhad” and Amir El-Masry (right) stars as “Omar” in director Ben Sharrock’s LIMBO, a Focus Features release. Cr. Courtesy of Colin Tennant / Focus Features*

A young Syrian musician and a motley collection of other refugees wait on a remote Scottish island while the British government decides their asylum claims, in writer/director Ben Sharrock’s wry funny, poignant LIMBO. LIMBO paints a dryly comic, often absurdist tale of life in limbo, but it also takes us to unexpected places, just as their journey took to them to this unlikely spot.

LIMBO features excellent direction, a tightly-crafted script, fine performances and stunning photography of the harsh, windswept island landscape. This smart, well-crafted film, both funny and touching, was a BAFTA nominee and a winner at the British Independent Film Awards and the Cairo International Film Festival.

The British government has sent this group of refugees to a distant, sparsely-populated, fictional Scottish island to await their fate. The story focuses mainly on the young Syrian musician, Omar (Amir El-Masry), who is both a comic and pitiable figure with his hand in a cast but clutching the case with his musical instrument as he wanders this windswept island. He joins a group that includes Farhad (Vikash Bhai), an Afghan refugee who is a member of a religious minority as well as a Freddie Mercury fan, and a pair of young men from Africa, Abedi (Kwabena Ansah) and Wasef (Ola Orebiyi), one of whom aspires to be a soccer star. One of the group opines that they were sent to this remote location because they are all the least desirable applicants – single men without families or special skills. Actually, the musician has a special skill – he is a talented musician from a family of famous musicians – but he plays the oud, a stringed instrument much beloved in Syria, although here, no one has even heard of it.

While they wait, the men spend their days attending comically-bizarre classes that are supposed to acclimate them to a new culture. The classes are run by a pair of former immigrants, Helga (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard), who act out scenarios that are supposed to represent potential cultural misunderstandings, skits whose oddness leave the refugees staring in open-jawed disbelief. The instructors’ accents, a weird mix of their original ones and Scottish burrs, adds another bit of comic weirdness.

You can hear the humor potential in all that, and writer/director Ben Sharrock takes full advantage of that, but also uses the characters’ uniqueness to deepen them. Theater of the absurd is very present here, while the storytelling makes uses that to help make its points. In one telling scene, Omar stands on a desolate roadside, stoically listening as a group of Scottish teens berate and mock him for being an immigrant – but then offer him a ride. With little choice, the musician accepts, a perfect metaphor for his whole situation.

Filled with dry humor, LIMBO does not preach about immigrants but merely puts a human face on them by putting us in their shoes, particularly the young musician, as they wait in limbo for a distant government’s decision that will determine their fate. The comic elements are combined with pointed observations about the human condition, not just the plight of these wanderers, and some emotionally searing personal moments.

Omar is in limbo in more than one way. Separated from his family, he broods about his life. Omar’s oud belonged to his grandfather, a famous musician in Syria, and Omar was a rising talent himself before war tore his country apart. His family fled to Turkey but faced hostile treatment there, and Omar decided to take a chance in Britain, thinking his musical ability might give him a chance. His decision to seek asylum was paired with his brother’s decision to return to Syria to fight, a choice that caused a rift between them as well as separating the family, something Omar struggles with.

The photography is stunning, and adds enormously to the appeal of the film. Time and again, cinematographer Nick Cooke frames the action against a back drop of pale, waving grasses and gray skies, and repeatedly transforms a stark landscape into painterly scenes that sink into our consciousness as we follow the characters struggles amid the waiting.

This excellent film uses humor and insightful storytelling to deliver a thought-provoking, unexpected, and deeply human tale that rises above just the issue of immigration to a more universally human place. LIMBO opens Friday, April 30, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, and Marcus’ Ronnies and St. Charles Cinemas.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

CITY OF GHOSTS (2017) – Review

*A scene from Matthew Heineman’s CITY OF GHOSTS. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios / A&E IndieFilms / IFC Films. (c)*

In March 2014, the military group calling itself the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took over the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, and declared it the capital of their caliphate. Journalists were no longer able to enter the city to report on events, and ISIS began releasing a series of propaganda videos painting a rosy picture of the city, as a recruiting tool. But a group of young pro-democracy activists stepped in as journalists, reporting on what was really happening in Raqqa. While ISIS’ slick Hollywood-style media campaign presented Raqqa as a peaceful, fully functioning city, the citizen journalists of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) told the world what as really taking place, with eye-witness reports and footage of the chaos, dysfunction and violence gripping the city.

Documentarian Mathew Heineman (CARTEL LAND) shines a spotlight on Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) in the moving, heart-breaking CITY OF GHOSTS. Heineman was nominated for an Oscar for CARTEL LAND, a remarkable documentary that took the filmmaker and viewers inside a Mexican drug cartel.

The documentary opens in 2015 as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently is being honored for its journalistic contributions by the nonprofit group the Committee to Protect Journalists. Heineman serves as director, cameraman, producer and co-editor in this often personal documentary. Like in CARTEL LAND, Heineman embedded himself with the subjects of his documentary, which gave him remarkable access and a kind of fly-on-the-wall view of events. The filmmaker made contact with the members of RBSS in Turkey, where they had fled after things became too heated in Syria. Even on the other side of the border, their work continued, as they posted video and reports received from contacts still in Raqqa.

The film focuses on four members – Aziz, Hamoud, Hassam, and Mohamad. None of the four men were journalists originally but brought an array of skills to the mission. Aziz’s mastery of English made him the spokesman, drawing attention to the information on the website, while the others served as cameraman, technical expert, and reporter respectively. Most were college students in their twenties, and one, Mohamad, a former math teacher in his thirties, who had been inspired by the Arab Spring. When ISIS took over their city and declared it the capital of their caliphate, they were appalled the awful conditions that quickly arose as well as by ISIS’ slickly-made propaganda campaign. Along with other Syrians using social media, they exposed ISIS’ lies and misinformation on their website, counteracting ISIS’ recruiting efforts and drawing their ire.

One cannot help but be moved by the bravery, resourcefulness and drive of the people behind Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, who endured painful personal losses in their work. They worked in secret in Raqqa, on the run, and then in exile, to get out the truth of what is happening in their city. The documentary gives a close-up view of the daily lives of the members of RBSS. The film is strongest when it lets the subjects speak, to tell their own story, which it frequently does. The film is light on details of the men’s personal backgrounds and the group’s methods, probably to protect them from ISIS.

The first half of the film is inspiring, thrilling even, as the members of RBSS out-think and outmaneuver ISIS assassins, posting footage and reports while in hiding and on the move. The documentary also offers samples of ISIS’ Hollywood-style propaganda videos. After ISIS took over Raqqa, it switched from amateur videos promoting their cause to more polished, professional ones which borrowed Hollywood techniques and look like action movies, which created a powerful recruiting tool.

Some of the man-in-the-street footage RBSS gathered and posted is also included in the documentary. Some of this material, including public executions, is shockingly graphic, well beyond what might be seen on American media. Coupled with the regular reports of ISIS’ assassinations of RBSS members and even their families, it creates a visceral reaction.

The film is often deeply personal, presenting detailing their personal sacrifices and costs. When ISIS closes in on them in Syria and kills some members, the leaders flee to Turkey to continue their reporting, publishing material sent to them despite ISIS’ efforts to shut down all means of communication. When ISIS assassins reach into Turkey, the team flees to Europe.

Up to this point, the film has the driving heroic energy of a fictional film, a narrative arc that makes the audience hope for an ending where these brave souls win their battle over ISIS. But this is not a Hollywood movie, this is reality, where the battle in Syria is still unfolding and the ending unclear.

Once it Europe, the mission becomes more difficult with communication lines stretched thin. The tone changes and the film loses some steam, The work becomes harder, getting information out becomes difficult, and ISIS becomes more effective at tracking down their reporters and it is impossible to add more reporters in Syria. In this more distant place, Syria starts to feel far off, and personal lives are changing as these mostly young men grow into more adult lives. One member and his wife welcome their first child. At the same time, the leaders of RBSS are confronted with anti-immigrant protesters in Germany, who ironically seem unable to distinguish them from the forces they are fighting. When the threat of assassination reaches out again, they are faced with a choice: hide or risk death to continue their work.

The documentary shifts from RBSS’ reporting to the personal lives of its members as it progresses. The film is revealing and moving, but does not have a strong resolution because the fight in Syria is still going on. Still, the film is worth seeing for its personal stories and its realism, because real life rarely has the neat endings of fiction. Their work goes on, as their lives go on, adjusting to a new life in Europe, wondering if they will ever return to their homeland and families. One of the subjects sums it up, in a comment: “Either we win or they kill us all.”

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

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