We Syrians are haunted by the wind. The saying goes, “be ready, the past is coming.” And I say, “be ready, Syrian films are coming like the wind.” -Ahmad Alhaj
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is a series of autobiographical Syrian fiction and documentary films exploring migration, grief, memory and history following the political instability of the Arab Spring. Within this program, the wind is understood to be the central metaphor that represents destiny and which links the films together. Whether through unleashing its wrath, or by leading in flight, the wind is an element that guides the lives of countless people in ways unseen. Primarily shot across North America and Europe, the films present deeply humanizing narratives of Syrian experiences, shedding light of the contradictions and irreconcilable realities of longing for a past that haunts the present.
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is curated by Ahmad Alhaj and presented by ArteEast. This program is part of the legacy program Unpacking the ArteArchive, which preserves and presents 20 years of film and video programming by ArteEast. The program will be screened online on artearchive.org from April 11 - 21. The in-person screening takes place on Sunday, April 21 at IAIA, Institute of Arab and Islamic Art.
Silent Cinema (2001)
Upon graduating from a film studies program in Paris, Meyar al-Rumi returns to his native Damascus, eager to start making films. But when the script he proposes is rejected by the censors, he is instead inspired to make a portrait of the Syrian filmmakers who have been affected most by censorship. The film is a courageous short documentary on filmmaking in Syria.
About the Filmmaker:
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1973, Meyar Al Roumi studied and worked as a photographer before traveling to Paris where he studied cinema at the University Paris VIII and FEMIS from which he graduated in 2001. He has worked as a director of photography on a number of documentary and fiction films in France and in Syria including: Flood in Baath Country (Omar Amiralay, 2003), Blue-Grey (Mohammad AL-Roumi, 2004), Contre la Montée (Damien Bertrand, 2003), Transit (Bani Khoshnoudi, 2004), among others.
He has also directed a number of documentaries, including, A Silent Cinema (Sinama samita, 2001), Waiting for the Day (Thilal al-Ayyam al-Ramadiyya, 2003), and Le Club de l'avenir (Nadi el-Mustaqbal, 2006). In 2007, he completed a feature-length documentary that paints the portrait of a few taxi drivers in Damascus: Six Ordinary Stories.
Meyar Al Roumi has also directed fiction films, including The Voyage of Rabeya (Rahlat Rabeya, 2005) and Journey (Rahleh, 2011). He recently completed his first feature-length fiction film, Round Trip. In 2022 he finished his second feature-length fiction film The Return.
- Year2001
- Runtime28 minutes
- LanguageArabic, French
- CountrySyrian Arab Republic
- GenreDocumentary
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorMeyar Al Roumi
We Syrians are haunted by the wind. The saying goes, “be ready, the past is coming.” And I say, “be ready, Syrian films are coming like the wind.” -Ahmad Alhaj
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is a series of autobiographical Syrian fiction and documentary films exploring migration, grief, memory and history following the political instability of the Arab Spring. Within this program, the wind is understood to be the central metaphor that represents destiny and which links the films together. Whether through unleashing its wrath, or by leading in flight, the wind is an element that guides the lives of countless people in ways unseen. Primarily shot across North America and Europe, the films present deeply humanizing narratives of Syrian experiences, shedding light of the contradictions and irreconcilable realities of longing for a past that haunts the present.
REVOLUTION OF THE WIND is curated by Ahmad Alhaj and presented by ArteEast. This program is part of the legacy program Unpacking the ArteArchive, which preserves and presents 20 years of film and video programming by ArteEast. The program will be screened online on artearchive.org from April 11 - 21. The in-person screening takes place on Sunday, April 21 at IAIA, Institute of Arab and Islamic Art.
Silent Cinema (2001)
Upon graduating from a film studies program in Paris, Meyar al-Rumi returns to his native Damascus, eager to start making films. But when the script he proposes is rejected by the censors, he is instead inspired to make a portrait of the Syrian filmmakers who have been affected most by censorship. The film is a courageous short documentary on filmmaking in Syria.
About the Filmmaker:
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1973, Meyar Al Roumi studied and worked as a photographer before traveling to Paris where he studied cinema at the University Paris VIII and FEMIS from which he graduated in 2001. He has worked as a director of photography on a number of documentary and fiction films in France and in Syria including: Flood in Baath Country (Omar Amiralay, 2003), Blue-Grey (Mohammad AL-Roumi, 2004), Contre la Montée (Damien Bertrand, 2003), Transit (Bani Khoshnoudi, 2004), among others.
He has also directed a number of documentaries, including, A Silent Cinema (Sinama samita, 2001), Waiting for the Day (Thilal al-Ayyam al-Ramadiyya, 2003), and Le Club de l'avenir (Nadi el-Mustaqbal, 2006). In 2007, he completed a feature-length documentary that paints the portrait of a few taxi drivers in Damascus: Six Ordinary Stories.
Meyar Al Roumi has also directed fiction films, including The Voyage of Rabeya (Rahlat Rabeya, 2005) and Journey (Rahleh, 2011). He recently completed his first feature-length fiction film, Round Trip. In 2022 he finished his second feature-length fiction film The Return.
- Year2001
- Runtime28 minutes
- LanguageArabic, French
- CountrySyrian Arab Republic
- GenreDocumentary
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorMeyar Al Roumi