By Sydney Douglas
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Three Syrian films that deal with such issues as terrorism and the ongoing refugee crisis caused by the war in that country will be shown at Towson University tonight as part of an international film festival.
Organizers said they expect between 35 and 80 people to attend and watch the movies, which will shown in the Van Bokkelen Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m. today. Admission is free.
Vent, directed by Abdulelah Al Jawarneh, is a documentary that focuses on 14 young adults from across the Middle East who participated in an artistic peace workshop in Jordan to learn how to use art to express their personal feelings about the Arab Spring of 2011.
Leaves of Damascus was directed by Adam Random and looks at six young Syrian artists who have moved to Istanbul. The documentary shows how people deal with leaving their home country.
The third film, The Man who Made a Movie, is directed by Ahamad Ibrahim Ahmad and examines terrorism, media and the ongoing civil war in Syria.
“The movies deal with war and refugee crisis,” said Dr. Kimberly Katz, an expert on the Middle East and a professor of history at Towson who will introduce the films. “One of them is very hard to watch, The Man who Made a Movie. It’s fewer than 20 minutes long and tells volumes of what is happening. [It’s] really an emotion grabber.”
The films are part of the eighth annual International Film Festival, a month-long event from Feb. 5 to March 4, in which movies from five different countries are shown at various venues across Maryland. This year’s theme is building bridges to the world.
The movies are chosen by a group of Maryland professors. Every week for a month, one new film is chosen from a different country.
In addition to Syria, the other four countries that were chosen include Israel, which was screened on Feb. 5, Slovakia, screened on Feb. 12, the Philippines screened on Feb. 19, and Panama screened on Feb. 26.
Those showings were held at Bowie, Cumberland, Salisbury University, and the Southern Maryland for Higher Education Center.
“We always try to choose something from the Middle East,” said Dr. Greg Faller, who heads the festival for all five venues and is on the committee of choosing the films and countries. “We wanted a different voice for the Arab country. We wanted to have an opportunity for both parts of those voices to speak.”
The film festival is funded by the World Artists Experiences and the International Division of Maryland’s Office of the Secretary of State.
Once the films are chosen, the agencies go to the embassies of each country and ask for the films and pay for the performance price so that it will be shown for free.
“One of the things I suspect will be surprising is none of the women are wearing headscarves,” Katz said. “They [Syria and Turkey] are more liberal than other counties. They will see that they are just like us, especially hearing now in debates that we shouldn’t take in refugees.”