Al Basateen / The Orchards

Awarded at the Pesaro International Festival of New Cinema, the film by French director Antoine Chapon blends political cinema with the use of diverse materials such as footage and 3D reinterpretations of architectural renderings to deliver a heartfelt denunciation of Bashar al-Assad’s criminal regime in Syria. In 2015, the historic Basateen al-Razi neighborhood of Damascus and its beautiful orchards were razed to the ground as punishment for the population’s uprising. The destroyed area was earmarked for the construction of Marota City, a fully cemented district with 80 skyscrapers. Today, ten years later, two residents speak about their historic neighborhood where their homes once stood: memory becomes resistance against deliberate erasure.