Amany, Behind the Lines

Éligible pour :

• Meilleur long métrage de fiction ou documentaire en coproduction
• Meilleure contribution créative dans une œuvre de fiction ou documentaire : Anthony Juret (Son)
• Meilleure musique originale : Kyan Bayani

Synopsis :

In Syria, Idlib is the last stronghold of the rebels and jihadist groups that have been trying to overthrow President Assad since 2011. In this battered, continually bombed and inward-looking city, Amani Al-Ali has been stubbornly drawing, as a way of fighting against both the Islamist power and the traditionalist patriarchy. But now she is wondering if she would be better off leaving. Amani has chosen to stay in her town to educate young women. By organising drawing workshops, she naturally encourages them to question the repressive power structures in place. The film’s directors are unable to travel to Amani’s town, which is cut off from the rest of the world, and therefore suggest a method for her to film remotely, in her flat : this method creates a climate of intimacy and trust while guaranteeing protection for the illustrator, who is placing herself at personal risk. The film brings the artist’s drawings to life to tell the story of a very recent past as yet undocumented, thus giving us unprecedented access to one of the most urgent situations in our contemporary world.