FESTIVALS: * European Parliament LUX Film Nights (USA) * Docaviv (Tel Aviv, Israel) * IDFA (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) * Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece) * One World International Film Festival (Czech Republic) * Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia) * DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (Finland) * Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (Cape Town, South Africa) * DocsBarcelona (Spain) * New Zealand Film Festival Trust (Wellington , New Zealand) * EDOC- Encuentros del Otro Cine International Documentary Film Festival (Quito, Ecuador) * FIFDH - Festival du film et Forum sur les Droits Humains (Geneve, Switzerland) * International Human Rights Film Festival in Albania (Tirana, Albania) * CNEX Documentary Film Festival (Taipei City , Taiwan) * Watch Docs Festival (Warsaw, Poland) * Durban International Film Festival (South Africa) * Millenium International Documentary Film Festival (Bruxelles, Belgium) * DMZ DOCS (Bucheon-si, South Korea) * Cinemigrante (Buenos Aires, Argentina) * Docudays UA (Kharkiv, Ukraine) * Human Rights Human Wrongs (Oslo, Norway) * Middle East Now Festival (Firenze, Italy) * Cartagena Film Festival - FICCI (Colombia) * Le Voci dell'Inchiesta (The Voices of the Investigative Journalism) (Pordenone, Italy) * !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival (Turkey) * Transatlantyk (Łódź, Poland) * One World Slovakia (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) * Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival (Germany) * Exile Room (Athens, Greece) * Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival (Pittsburgh, USA) * Festival Cinéma et Droits Humains d'Amnesty International Paris (France) * KOMAS Freedom Film Festival (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) * Dharamshala International Film Festival (Dharamshala, Dist Kangra, India) * Vermont International Film Festival (Burlington, USA) * Europe on Screen (Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia) * Ciné Droit Libre Festival (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) * Fuzhong 15 - New Taipei City Documentary Cinema (Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)) * Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival (Belgium) * Erasmus Documentary Film Festival (Jakarta, Indonesia) * Marda Loop Justice Film Festival (Calgary, Canada) * Panorama du Film Européen (Cairo, Egypt) * DocPoint Tallin (Estonia) * Singapore International Festival of Arts (Singapore) * Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival (Myanmar) * Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival-KICFF (Norway) * Fuoricircuito – Zo centro culture contemporanee (Italy) * Hot Docs Oz (Australia) * Marquee international film festival (Madison, USA) * Pakhuis de Zwijger (The Netherlands) * Arab Film Weekend (Boston, USA) * Refugee Film Festival (Cyprus) * World Refugee Day (Hungary) * MATATU Festival of Stories (Oakland, USA) * European Union Human Rights Film Festival (Turkey) * Meaningful Movies Amnesty International (Australia) * UNHCR Refugee Film Festival in Japan (Tokyo, Japan) * doc/fest - cross-border documentary filmfestival (The Netherlands) * Moldox (Moldova) * Bildrausch – Filmfest Basel (Switzerland) * Summer Film Academy in Zwierziniec (Poland) * DREAM - Dinamikus Rovidterapias Egyesulet es Alkoto Muhely (Hungary) * Wojewodzka i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna w Gdansku (Poland) * ADRA Japan (Japan) * UNIC Pakistan (Islamabad, Pakistan) * UNIC New Dehli (India) * Two Peeps (Stockholm, Sweden) * Human Vision Film Festival (Austria) * Point doc (Belgium) * UNHCR in India (India) * DocuBaku International Film Festival (Azerbaijan) AWARDS: * Audience Award DocsBarcelona Medellin * Audience Award - Millenium International Documentary Film Festival * Objectif d'Or (Best film award) - Millenium International Documentary Film Festival * Grand Jury Award @ One World Int’l Film Festival "The jury was impressed by the radical approach the director has chosen in the storytelling and by the braveness of the protagonists who allow the audience to experience an intimate story bringing out the human factor and an honest picture of a family in crisis amidst the political larger one." * Special Jury Prize - International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) * Grand Jury Award - Sheffield Doc/Fest “The Jury were enamored by this Bergmanesque portrait of a relationship and love, taking place against an ever-changing and tumultuous backdrop. Delivering unusual gender portraits it explores vulnerabilities, looking at the concept of belonging, providing a unique and intimate portrait of disillusionment.“ * Special Mention - Biografilm Festival “For the courage and tenacity to tell, with a direct language and without filters, a story of love and war by bringing us in the daily life of a family distorted by idealism and violence.“ * British Independent Film Awards nomination * European Film Awards Nomination * Special Mention - Flahertiana | A Syrian Love Story
Amer met Ragda, when both were locked up in a Syrian jail for speaking out against an oppressive regime. Twenty years and four sons later, filmmaker Sean McAllister comes into their lives, as Amer is waiting for Ragda, who has once again been imprisoned. When she is unexpectedly released, the family is overjoyed - they need her, particularly three year-old Bob. McAllister and his subjects' lives become irrevocably intertwined when McAllister himself is jailed, and footage of the family is confiscated. Amer and Ragda must flee overnight to Lebanon, with nothing but their children. McAllister follows their story over five turbulent years, as they struggle to find their feet as refugees; Ragda in particular can't bear to be away from Syria in its hour of greatest need. As they watch Syria descend into chaos, they struggle to repair their troubled relationship. A powerful, moving story of family and exile from one of the UK's most talented independent filmmakers. A SYRIAN LOVE STORY: REVIEWS HUCK MAGAZINE : review by Shelley Jones (11/27/2015) TWITTER: @SyrianLoveStory #ASyrianLoveStory FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/ASyrianLoveStoryFilm FILM WEBSITE: www.asyrianlovestory.com SEAN McALLISTER WEBSITE: www.seanmcallister.com PRESS IMAGES: (click to preview) 
 TRAILER : |
