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The moderation of creative dissidence in Syria: Reem Ali’s documentary Zabad

The moderation of creative dissidence in Syria: Reem Ali’s documentary Zabad
The moderation of creative dissidence in Syria: Reem Ali’s documentary Zabad
The documentary camera in Syria is emerging as one of the most powerful tools in raising awareness during this current revolution. While foreign media have been banned from the country, revolutionaries and ordinary Syrians are capturing events and people on their small digital and other cameras in order to testify about their struggle. This attests to the power of the image and to the political effectiveness of the documentary. This article briefly covers the nature of political film- and documentary-making in Syria. The author points out the contribution of Omar Amiralay and Hala al-Abdallah to this trend and specifically deals with a young woman’s documentary that subtly and moderately engages with politics and family matters. Reem Ali’s 2008 documentary Zabad shows that negotiations with dissidence and political repression take place on many different levels, and that the uprisings are not only due to sudden changes leading to “democratic” sensibilities in reaction to contextual factors and enabled through neighbouring practices. In fact, artistic dissidence comes as a consequence of numerous dissident activities that have already been reacting to years of institutional and social repression
1479-7585
297-317
Van De Peer, Stefanie
51d35528-b8de-4778-958d-c5935f2b5358
Van De Peer, Stefanie
51d35528-b8de-4778-958d-c5935f2b5358

Van De Peer, Stefanie (2012) The moderation of creative dissidence in Syria: Reem Ali’s documentary Zabad. Journal for Cultural Research, 16 (2&3), 297-317. (doi:10.1080/14797585.2012.647709).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The documentary camera in Syria is emerging as one of the most powerful tools in raising awareness during this current revolution. While foreign media have been banned from the country, revolutionaries and ordinary Syrians are capturing events and people on their small digital and other cameras in order to testify about their struggle. This attests to the power of the image and to the political effectiveness of the documentary. This article briefly covers the nature of political film- and documentary-making in Syria. The author points out the contribution of Omar Amiralay and Hala al-Abdallah to this trend and specifically deals with a young woman’s documentary that subtly and moderately engages with politics and family matters. Reem Ali’s 2008 documentary Zabad shows that negotiations with dissidence and political repression take place on many different levels, and that the uprisings are not only due to sudden changes leading to “democratic” sensibilities in reaction to contextual factors and enabled through neighbouring practices. In fact, artistic dissidence comes as a consequence of numerous dissident activities that have already been reacting to years of institutional and social repression

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 25 April 2012
Published date: 1 May 2012
Organisations: Winchester School of Art

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 337785
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/337785
ISSN: 1479-7585
PURE UUID: a62e1eef-9165-4c25-83d8-02830fe58e3a

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Date deposited: 03 May 2012 14:33
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:58

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Author: Stefanie Van De Peer

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