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Republic of Silence

Qumra Projects

Synopsis

She grew up in the lands of dictators and surveillance, where images are censored, photos are burned, thoughts are discreet, and mouths are kept shut. Forty years later, from her exile in Germany, Diana El Jeiroudi is a documentary filmmaker reclaiming the images and sounds of the Syrian land and its people, half of whom are scattered around the world. In this emotionally charged carefully crafted film, El Jeiroudi presents a first-person account of how she ended up in Berlin, how she grew up to internalise a world of silence and oppression, how she learned to negotiate her existence and well-being in the face of a mutating enemy, how she bore witness and became involved, how she revolted and claimed herself – and how cinema has saved her life.

About the Director

Diana El Jeiroudi is a Syrian director and producer who has resided in Berlin since 2013. In 2002, she co-founded Proaction Film, the first independent production company in Syria after the Damascus Spring. Her filmography includes ‘The Pot’ (2005), which was selected for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, and ‘Dolls, A Woman from Damascus’ (2007) and ‘Morning Fears, Night Chants (2012), both of which screened at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. In 2008, she co-founded the DOX BOX Film Festival, followed by the DOX BOX Association in Berlin. El Jeiroudi’s work has been recognised through various awards, including an EDN Award and a Katrin Cartlidge Award. She has served as a juror for several film festivals and funds, including Sundance, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and One World, and she sat on the jury of L’Oeil d’Or, the first documentary award at the Festival de Cannes, in 2015. She is a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie.

Credits

Director

Diana El Jeiroudi

Producer

Orwa Nyrabia, Diana El Jeiroudi, Camille Laemlé

Production Company

No Nation Films, Les Films d’lci

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