Friday, December 29, 2017

'The War Show' DVD: Documenting the Evolution of the Syrian War


The beautiful friendship between Film Movement and Bond/360 that is spawning a plethora of compelling documentaries includes the timely November 28, 2017 DVD release "The War Show," which focuses on the efforts to oust Assad from the Syrian equivalent of the Oval Office. Like all Movement-360 joint joints, the compelling aspect enters in the form of putting personal faces on the documented historic events.

The ordinary Jane who puts a human face on world events this time is radio host Obaidah Zytoon; as the press materials for "War" state, she and her friends film their involvement in the Arab Spring protests in March 2011 to maintain a record of the events.

The following YouTube clip of a festival trailer for "War" provides a strong sense of the candidness of the film.


Zytoon and her filmmaking partner Andreas Dalsgaard additionally provide profiles of the rest of the group. The informal leader is a dental student whom Zytoon credits for keeping the teeth of the friends healthy. There also are an architecture student and a veteran of protests who put their skills to good use.

The most appealing protestors are a couple who are very much in love; the thoughtful and exceptionally devoted man particularly is a dream come true for straight women and gay men.

The scene stealer is orphaned tiny dog Fifi. One of the best segments in "War" centers around bathing this group mascot.

Another memorable moment has a fierce tween girl whose desire to not symbolically "suffocate" prompts not joining the rest of the group in hiding her face while loudly and proudly chanting that Assad must go.

The next portion of "War" documents the actual fighting and the internal debate regarding the nature of the government that should replace the Assad regime; the primary divide is whether it should be based on religious beliefs or a secular system.

Other central themes of "War" are the related censorship and propaganda by the oppressive powers-that-be. It seems that carrying a camera is as serious (if not worse) offense than toting a gun. We further see how soldiers clear areas to present a false image that the populace is perfectly content with the state of the union.

An expected sad portion of the film near the end of "War" is learning the fate of the 20-somethings whom the audience comes to know and like. The majority of these folks who bravely step up to have their voices heard tragically fulfill the prophecy in the (reviewed) Film Movement release "Time to Die" that certain types of people end up either in the cemetery or jail.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "War" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.


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