Is cinema capable of talking about war without being graphic? The answer is yes. Documentary filmmaker Soudade Kaadan’s first fiction feature, The Day I Lost My Shadow, is a moving portrait of a woman trying to retain some semblance of normality in a Syrian war zone.
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| Sana (Sawsan Ercheid) |
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| Soudade Kaadan, director |
Speaking about the casting process, Kaadan said that only the four main characters were played by professional actors, while many of the extras were Syrian refugees from various refugee camps. During the shooting of the film on location at the border between Lebanon and Syria, many of the actors would start crying because of the memories of people they had lost during the war.
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| Reem (Reham Al Kassar) |
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| Jalal, Reem and Sana are trapped outside of Damascus. Sana notices Jalal has no shadow. |
The Day I Lost My Shadow won the Lion of the Future award at the Venice Film Festival and represents an exciting new development in Syrian cinema. From finding ways to skirt censorship by Syrian authorities before the war, to speaking out frankly about the war, to now a more reflective and emotional engagement with the lived reality of war time, Syrian cinema continues to find its voice and bring fresh perspectives to the screen.
The Day I Lost My Shadow was screened at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival as part of the Asian Feature Film Competition.
Written by Jacqueline Lee