(Zaman Al Wasl)- ‘One Day in Aleppo’, a documentary by a Syrian investigative journalist, tells the story of the resistance of Syrian people in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city before being fell to regime control after deadly offensive in 2017.
Ali al-Ibrahim captured the love of life of people resisting the daily death that threatens them. He presented to the world, along 24-minute a transparent and sharp image of the harsh living conditions in a besieged and destructed city surrounded by violence in its daily basis.
Ibrahim is an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who co-founded the first Syrian Investigative Unit (SIRAJ). He was named as the best Young Journalist of 2018 by BBC London.
He has worked as a reporter and producer for a number of Arab and international television channels covering the Syrian war. His investigations were published in international and regional media platforms.
In one of the film’s happier tales, a group of children using their beautiful and colored paints to protest and to bring life to the ruins of their city.
Al-Ibrahim told Zaman al Wasl that the film is characterized by the extreme simplicity in order to make it accessible to everyone.
As for his passion for cinema and documentary films, Ibrahim said that his work in the documentary film industry began in 2014 as a partner with the director Firas Fayyad. One day in Aleppo is his first documentary films.
He revealed that there were many dangers and difficulties during the shooting. “There was the aerial bombing by the Syrian regime and Russia” he said. “A cameraman from my crew and other figures were killed”. The intensive bombing didn’t distinguish between a journalist, a civilian and child or fighter. The Syrian regime’s shelling was brutal and systematic” he said.
He pointed out that the biggest difficulty during the shooting is to relive destruction and murder against the Syrian people by the Syrian regime, and watch the videos continuously. “It is psychologically hard to relive killing and destruction during the shooting. I was extremely exhausted” he said.
The young director explained that the aim of the film is to make the best use of the power of the real picture to express the details of death and hope in the destructed Aleppo.
Adding that he tried to transform the stories of the people they show without talking into a cinematic desire to give the people the freedom of expression by movement, sight, look and anger. “Silence is full of words and expressions” he said.
Al-Ibrahim’s documentary participated in more than 26 international festivals and won 17 prizes. The most recent one was the International Jury Prize at the Middle East now Festival in Italy.
The film won many awards at international film festivals, including the "Honor Award" in the official short film competition in Switzerland, the best short documentary film at the Independent London Film Awards, the best international short documentary film at the Mexico Short Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best International Short Film at the Madrid Festival and the jury Prize at the Ismailia festival in Egypt and other awards.
Zaman Al Wasl
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