Director: Alessio Cremonini.
Starring: Dana Keilani, Sara El Debuch, Wasim Abo Azan, Sami Haddad, Abdul Ahmed, Jamal El Zohbi.
Running Time: 95 minutes.
Synopsis: Fatima and Aya are sisters living in Syria in the middle of the ongoing conflict, who are forced to flee to Turkey when Fatima’s husband deserts the army to join the rebels. But their journey across Syria will not be an easy one…
Though Italian-produced, BORDER is actually set far, far away from Europe’s boot. Detailing the plight of individuals attempting to cross the Syrian border into Turkey, the film deals with the fallout from the ongoing civil war in Syria. To emphasise this, BORDER opens on a macro level, with grainy video footage from the war, before taking us down to a micro level, focusing on Iraqi sisters Fatima and Aya as they are forced to flee the country. Sadly for their driver, the pair are extremely religious and refuse to remove their niqabs – which could put them in mortal danger should they come across any soldiers.
Experience is at the heart of BORDER. Written by an Italian-Syrian journalist, Susan Dabbous, who was herself arrested shortly after the film was produced, the directorial debut of screenwriter Alessio Cremonini is based on a true story, drawn from a three-day interview with the real life incarnation of one of the sisters. Not that the film sticks with Fatima and Aya for its entire duration – another refugee, Bilal, joins them shortly after they depart. He’s also fleeing to Turkey after ratting out his allies to save his own skin. From there, Cremonini takes no prisoners, giving us no word of warning as to what will happen to his characters – as emphasised through his subtle, effortless direction and camerawork – nor giving us much time to react when it does.
But this is the reality of the war in Syria, and Cremonini does well to showcase it as well he can, in an engaging and informative manner, without having to submit to a simple documentary format. While he may leave one too many threads dangling under the excuse of symbolic metaphors, BORDER is nonetheless a solid production. And credit where credit is due to cinematographer Stefano Di Leo for making the outskirts of Rome look so convincingly like the war-torn fields and forests of Syria.
BORDER isn’t perfect. Neither of the sisters is particularly likeable (though such is their circumstance that they have, perhaps, a right to be untrustworthy of everyone they encounter), screeching down the forests they attempt to hide in, while its slow start may discourage some from persevering. Still, it’s worth a watch, if only for what Dabbous and Cremonini have to say on Syria, rather than what it offers at face value.
[usr=3] BORDER was screened as part of the Cinema Made In Italy film festival at the Cine Lumiere, London. Click here for more information. See the rest of our coverage here.
