Syrian master Ossama Mohammed’s debut Nujum An-Nahar follows the inexorable dissolution of the Ghazi family on the eve of two marriages in a rural village in the Alawite coastal region, northwest of Damascus. The family microcosm, dominated by a despotic older brother (not coincidentally a quasi-sibling of Assad), is a biting allegory of the Baathist regime. Sarcastic and unconventional, Nujim An-Nahar is visually powerful, displaying in every shot Mohammed’s extraordinary talent: “Contrary to my fears, the National Film Organization did not impose any change to the script. Like other filmmakers of my generation, I quickly learnt to use words as hiding places; we knew we could rely only on images.”
Shown only once in Damascus in 1988 before an audience of artists and intellectuals, Nujum An-Nahar was immediately banned in Syria. However, eager to show itself as progressive and open in the eyes of Europe, the government allowed it to participate in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and the Valladolid and Rabat festivals, following which it enjoyed a decent European distribution. Since the uprisings of 9 May 2011, Ossama has been an exile in France, where fled for a masterclass with Costa-Gavras: “Le Monde had taken up my statements and the text signed by 99 Syrian artists bluntly condemning the regime. That night, an intellectual, a friend I trusted very much, informed me I was in great danger and I was not to ever return to Syria.”
For the past year, in a stubborn attempt to find any film element pertaining to Nujum An-Nahar I’ve had the privilege of speaking often and at length with Ossama: “Dictatorship is an existential issue, it affects us as human beings,” he told me during our last video call. “I believe deeply in my humanity and in the humanity of artists. Freedom means first of all imagination, there is no cinema without imagination, not even realist cinema. Dictatorship is the colonisation of our imagination and our humanity.”
With sincere thanks to Rasha Salti, Jean-Michel Frodon, Yuri Aguilar, Inma Trull Ortiz, Markus Ruff, and Irit Neidhardt.

Cecilia Cenciarelli