To the end of life’ Feature Movie is filming in Damascus

Syrian-Palestinian filmmaker Basil al-Khatib, along with a number of Syrian movie stars, continue to film the events of the feature film of ‘To the end of life’ in Jober district, eastern Damascus.

Director Basil al-Khatib with dozens of actresses, actors and technical staff are working hard to produce the film among the demolished buildings and roads to show the Syrian war affects through human and emotional stories of Syrian war reporters and soldiers.

The government run Organization for Arab Radio and TV  production  is making this film which is written by writer Samer Muhammad Ismail.

“The film depicts the  true story of a group of war reporters, journalists, soldiers and officers who have dreams and emotional stories to tell.Their destinies come together and unify to face the series of kidnapping by terrorist groups. This united fate shows the Syrian national unity,” famous filmmaker Basil al-Khatib said to Syria Times in the film location. 

“The film tells the story of a war reporter whose name is Lara. She is kidnapped by a terrorist group while covering the military operations. The Syrian Arab Army liberates Lara and returns her to her family,” the film’s writer Samer Muhammad Ismail said to Syria Times.

 “The film sheds light on the Syrian war correspondents’ suffering when covering the war against Syria,” Ismail added.

The Syrian actress Rana Shimess,  the film heroine who plays the role of Lara, said that the film tells the real story of the kidnapping of Syrian war reporter Yara Saleh.

The terroirist armed groups kidnapped Yara Saleh  and  other staff who were working for the state-run Damascus -based Al-EkhbariyahSyria, Syrian News Channel in August 2012, in Tal Manin village, north Damascus. 

“ Lara is a war reporter who covers the news of the Syrian war and her kidnapping and liberation process also show the other face of Syrian war.”  Rana Shimess, a Syrian young actress, said to Syria Times.

 “The film shows the effective role of Syrian journalist in reporting the events of the battles against terrorism. The film has no political agenda. It only shows the social and emotional angles of Lara and other characters,” Rana Shimess said while she was reading the transcript for her next scene in the film location.

Some Syrian drama critics and writers said that the film illustrates the Syrian government’s views about the ongoing war in the country by presenting the Syrian Arab Army as the savior and the opposition armed groups as terrorist groups.

Syrian actor Wael Ramadan disagrees with this criticism and says that Syrians can disagree and have different attitudes from their government but they cannot disagree on their homeland, Syria.

“I am acting the role of Colonel Issa, who is the commander of Special Task Force. Many soldiers and I  work hard to liberate Lara and other kidnapped people from the terrorists,” Wael Ramadan said to Syria Times. 

 “The Syrian Arab Army’s officers and soldiers did great human deeds during the wartime and the film shows these good human deeds. Each officer and soldier has his own life and moving story. The film shows some of these stories,” Ramadan said, while he was dressing in a military uniform and gun next to him.

The Premier is scheduled to be screened in December and it will be translated into four languages, English, French, Spanish and Russian. 

The 9-year war inspired the Syrian makers of movies and drama to produce works showcasing the repercussion of war in all wakes of life. This film, ‘To the end of life’ is one of these works.

End.

Reported by: Obaida Hamad

Photos by: Mahfouz Abu Hadir