Around Omar Amiralay
Moderated by Eliane Raheb
Syrian director and producer Hala Alabdalla, who collaborated closely with Amiralay, talks to AFLAMUNA about Omar and the making of her tribute documentary: “Omar Amiralay: Sorrow, Time, Silence”.
Hala Alabdalla is a prominent Syrian film producer and director. Alabdalla has written, produced, and directed many documentary films. Her directing credits include “I Am the One Who Brings Flowers to Her Grave” (2006), which was the first Syrian movie to be shown and awarded Best Documentary at the Venice Film Festival, and “As If We Were Catching a Cobra,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012.
Omar Amiralay, widely considered the godfather of Arab non-fiction film, passed away in 2011, just before the eruption of the still-ongoing war in Syria. He was a beloved figure in the Arab film world, celebrated for his activism and political cinema, although it meant that his films were frequently banned.
Eliane Raheb is a Lebanese filmmaker and one of the programmers of AFLAMUNA.online.