Syria
The State, Channel 4 review - dishonest portrait of British jihadisMonday, 21 August 2017
It’s a burning question of western civilisation: what persuades young people brought up among us to walk out on their lives and join the cult of murderous fanatics who call themselves Islamic State? If any dramatist could attempt a coherent answer... Read more... |
The Other Side of Hope review - Aki Kaurismäki at his tragicomic bestFriday, 26 May 2017
It takes real skill to make a film about a desperate Syrian refugee and a dour middle-aged Finn reinventing himself and turn it into the warmest, most life-enhancing film I’ve seen this year. But Aki Kaurismäki has form, he’s been making movies... Read more... |
Syria’s Disappeared review - 'must-watch can't-look record of Assad's atrocities'Friday, 24 March 2017
“The following images are extremely graphic.” The words appeared in white lettering against a black background, two-thirds of the way in. For the next minute, the screen filled with photographs of naked, emaciated corpses, some with crude writing... Read more... |
War Child, Channel 4Monday, 13 March 2017
In the mindset of Nigel Farage and his biddable followers, the route from Asia into Europe throngs with undesirables. Their threatening faces can be plastered on a vote-winning poster. In this calamitous failure of empathy, young men – hordes of... Read more... |
DVD: The Music of StrangersThursday, 01 December 2016
A welcome antidote to the mood of a time which seems hell-bent on closing borders and building walls, The Music of Strangers is about a unique musical collective that breaks through division and reaffirms the potential of culture to unite. Subtitled... Read more... |
The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, with Damon Albarn & Guests, RFHSunday, 26 June 2016
Before playing a version of “Out of Time”, the lead single from Blur’s 2003 album Think Tank, Damon Albarn explains that “at Glastonbury, it really was out of time: there was a problem with our monitors and we were about a bar a half out.”... Read more... |
When Hamlet came to a Syrian refugee campSunday, 01 November 2015
It would have been impossible to go to Syria. Our plan to perform Hamlet in every nation in the world faced its biggest obstacle to date and the Globe producers were left pondering a Plan B. We considered performing in a Syrian embassy - technically... Read more... |
Storyville: A Syrian Love Story, BBC FourTuesday, 29 September 2015
Managing the boundaries of closeness in documentary filmmaking can be a complicated issue. Does the documentarist figure only as a fly-on-the-wall observer – or become involved, caught up in the story of his or her subject? Is it possible to... Read more... |
Dispatches: Escape from Isis, Channel 4Thursday, 16 July 2015
“Say your last words before you leave this life.” Somewhere in the so-called Islamic State, a woman was accused of adultery. Her father joined her accusers, then, as her shrouded body was lowered into a pit, picked up a rock and hurled it at her. We... Read more... |
Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack, BBC FourWednesday, 01 July 2015
This was one of the most disturbing, terrifying and informative programmes imaginable, made more so by Dan Cruickshank’s calm demeanour as he interrogated everyone from scholars to fanatics about the actions and rationale of the Islamic State (IS)... Read more... |
Syria: Across the Lines, Channel 4Thursday, 18 April 2013
Covering both sides of a conflict is never easy. Apart from the physical dangers, warring parties are wary of journalists who've reported on and established ties with the enemy. Afghanistan showed this as clearly as anywhere, when the US forces were... Read more... |
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