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Film-Essai on the Euphrates Dam (Muhawalah 'an Wadi al-Furat) is the first film by veteran documentary filmmaker Omar Amiralay (Syria, 1970, 10 mins). It follows the construction of a dam on the Euphrates river that is supposed to bring tremendous improvement in the lives of villages around it. Thirty years later, the filmmaker revisits the site in A Flood in Baath Country (2003, 46 mins), and the enthusiasm once generated by the Baath party for the project. The original print has been restored and digitized very recently, and subtitled in English especially for this program. Today, after fatal construction flaws have been discovered, his controversial new film explores the metaphorical implications of such weakness. Without commentary or criticism, Amiralay's film exposes Baath party propaganda and its debilitating effects on the people of al-Mashi village, 250 miles northeast of Damascus. The camera moves slowly from students to teachers to government officials, with everyone reciting the exact same praises for the president and slogans glorifying the Baath party. The film is the harshest indictment yet of the regime, portraying the devastating effects of 35 years of rigid Baath party rule on Syrian society.
total running time: 56 minutes, Syria