Programmed by Laura U. Marks

This year the Damascus-based Syrian documentary festival DOX BOX has decided not to hold the festival or seek government permits, as a statement against the regime. Instead, Dox Box is circulating films on "DOX BOX Global Day," to engage audiences worldwide with the complex situation in Syria. This program includes rarely seen masterpieces such as Omar Amiralay's A Flood in Baath Country, Nidal Al Dibs's Black Stone, and Oussama Mohamed's Step by Step, as well as works by emerging filmmakers. While world attention is on Syria, these films help audiences share the experiences of Syrian people and learn about the country’s political, economic and social climates over recent decades. They also express the critical and creative agency of Syrian filmmakers through each film's particular style and sensibility, poetic or acerbic, sharp or tender. These are not only political and social witnesses but rare works of cinema.

PROGRAM

Supported by: School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures, SFU Wild Rice, DIM Cinema, Doxa Documentary Film Festival and Reel Causes.