Re/Cinema 

Log Line

Aleppo, Syria. In the midst of war, a projectionist keeps the last movie theater alive.

Synopsis

With the conflict in the war escalating and extremist Islamic forces threatening to execute cinema owners on charges of corruption and immorality,
all movie theatres in Aleppo closed down, and their owners fled the city to save their lives. But Carlos makes an important decision. He sends his family abroad and stays alone in the city war zone to save his movie theatre from imminent death.
Now Carlos is running his movie theatre amidst the war in Syria while hearing the sound of shooting and firing is considered normal yet. All the country’s young troops are at war, So Carlos himself is at the same time the cleaner, the projectionist, the ticket clerk, the barista, and even the general manager of Al-Zahra Cinema and contracts for his cinema movies and his distributions.
Carlos is the only projectionist left in the big city of Aleppo and runs the only open and active movie theatre there. Carlos’s familiarity and love for cinema date back to his childhood. His father was one of the first cinema owners in the city, So Carlos spent all of his childhood in the realm of cinema. War films were his favourite films. After finishing his classes, Carlos would head toward the movie theatre, watch movies there and work there with his father until the night’s end.

By the onset of the Civil War, everything changed.
He autonomously runs his movie theatre independent of any government assistance. The movie theatre and Carlos both have not been left untouched by the war. During the war, the entire neighbourhood, including Carlos’s paternal home and even his movie theatre were bombed and seriously damaged. Carlos alone has rebuilt the movie theatre every time after the bombings and
destruction, preventing it from turning into another garrison for civil war. He would have lost his life if captured by Islamic Extremist forces or Daesh during the war. He accepts the risk of being put to death to provide shelter with the help of his cinema for those people who still love dreaming.

All sessions of showings of Carlos cinema have audiences and people from all walks of life, apart from any social categories and community labels, come to
Al-Zahra to watch movies. Soldiers or civilians, young or old, Jews, Christians, Muslims, etc., all come to Al-Zahra cinema and watch movies to calm down a bit.
Throughout this documentary, we get to know Carlos and his cinema, narrate the story of their lives and discuss the reasons why the cinema remains open?

Director’s Statement 

Amidst a war-torn city, where survival is a daily struggle, 
in a place where some citizens are still starving to death and the sound of gunfire remains disturbingly commonplace,
I found myself contemplating the very essence of life. What is cinema?
What does it truly mean to be a filmmaker?

Suddenly, in this hellish backdrop, I witnessed a miracle—an oasis of hope—the sole open and operational city cinema.
and I found my answer

Artistic & Technical crew

Director : MAHAN KHOMAMIPOUR
Writers: GUY DE RAYMOND-CAHUZAC – MAHAN KHOMAMIPOUR
D.O.P : MAHAN KHOMAMIPOUR
Editor : MAHAN KHOMAMIPOUR
Music: MJOOBI
Production Manager: ZAKARIA ZARGANI
Sound Designer: MJOOBI
Voice over: AGATHE DE RAYMOND-CAHUZAC
Colourist: PALIZ KHOSHDEL
Graphic Designer : EILYA TEHAMTANI