Silent cinema: a cinema under censorship

Screening of ‘Silent cinema’ by Meyar al Roumi (Syria, 2001-28 min), the first of the sessions dedicated to approaching Syrian cinema before and after the 2011 revolution. We will see how the ‘revolution’ changed the ways of making and understanding cinema and we will ask ourselves how this new cinema contributed to the revolutionary process.

This first film explains how a young Syrian filmmaker, after having studied film in France, returns to his country to make a film. Censorship, which derails his project, prompts him to make a portrait of Syrian filmmakers who, at the end of their careers, talk about the impact of the regime on their lives and work. Making films in Syria is a question that leaves viewers speechless.

By Mostra de Cinema Àrab i Mediterrani de Catalunya/SODEPAU

In collaboration with Wind Cinema

Meyar Al Roumi graduated from La Fémis in 2001. He has made four documentaries. ‘Silent cinema’ and “L'attente du jour” - dedicated to cinema and Syrian art - as well as two short films “El Objet de désir” and “Le voyage de Rabiah” in 2006. In 2009 he made his first feature-length documentary, ‘Sis històries ordinàries’ and then, in 2011, a medium-length film acquired by Arte France. Al Roumi is also a screenwriter and director of photography. He has worked on some fifty films, including short films, fiction and documentaries.