Short film illustrates Syrians childhood under Ba’ath Party (WATCH)

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Tue 20 August 2019:

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The students’ moments of fun in a classroom belonging to the ruling party turned into a session of torture and abuse after the ball with which they played smashed the picture of the regime, “For Absurdism, Oh Vanguards” revolves around this image.

 

While the title of this film is reminiscent  of “A Flood in Baath Country” of the late Omar Amiralay, the director Yaman Abantabli explains that the film of the late director is a documentary while his film a drama, both a real documentation regardless of their level. He backtracked saying that Amiralay’s film is, without doubt, global by all standards without doubt. However, both films tell some of Syrian pain, and if the late director were alive – he says – he would have been the first person to send him his film to show that the idea he worked on did not go to waste.

The young director stated that his film “For Absurdism, oh Vanguards” is the story of his childhood and the childhoods of 20 million Syrians.

At the beginning of his asylum in Turkey, Antabli, 23, began a new artistic stage of his experience, in addition to his work in film advertising, he was able to make several cinematic works, including “Sealed”, “Zaatar”, “Sahwa”, etc. In late 2017, Antabli deliberated making a film about certain slogans and ideas and their influence on children in their home lives, but he stumbled upon an old clip dating back to 2009 that shows the cruelty and violence of an elementary school teacher torturing her students.

Antabli started the film’s production through his own company, Darmisk Film Production, January of this year, gathering about 30 children, 17 of whom were selected to participate in the roles, some of them had worked with him in previous films.

The director indicated that he was used to dealing with children in films and extracting what is innovative and distinctive within them, to provide a convincing performance for people.

On the translation of the film to several international languages, Antabli said that the aim of translation is to inform the world of our story as Syrians, of what is happening in Syria, and why we rose up against the regime. He had previously made a film entitled “Thyme” in English that was not translated into Arabic.

The film was translated into the languages of countries hosting the most of Syrian refugees and most related to Syrian affairs, so they would know, that besides the bombs, oppression, arrest and daily death, why they escape and seek safety from the “normal Syrian life.”

It has been translated into five languages, English, Swedish, German, French, and Turkish.

Antabli aspires to create a true independent Syrian film industry, one that the late Omar Amiralay, Mohamed Malas and other Syrian filmmakers were trying to create. A creative cinema that expresses and showcases their reality.

Movie Credits

Screenplay and Direction by Yaman Antabli

Produced by Darmisk Film Production

Art Production: Mohamed El Hindi

General Supervisor: Noor Awad

Music Composer: Fares Danan

Sound Engineers: Osama and Abada

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