Film
Film
5 Seasons of Revolution, 2023
Production Details

Original title

5 Seasons of Revolution

Country of Production

Germany, Syria, Norway, The Netherlands, Qatar

Year of production

2023

Runtime

95'

Format

HD

Director

Production

No Nation Films in co-production with Piraya Films and Docmakers, in association with Anonymous Content and Proaction Film

Original Language

English, Arabic

Subtitles

English

Festivals / Awards

Sundance 2023
Thessaloniki IDF 2023
HUMAN IDF 2023
Hot Docs 2023
DOK.fest Munich 2023
Bildrausch Filmfest Basel 2023
HER Docs Film Festival 2023
DMZ DOCS 2023
Nederlands Film Festival 2023
Nordic / Docs 2023
Nuremberg Human Rights FF 2023
Syrian Doc Days 2023
Verzió HRFF 2023
Kettupäivät - Social Cinema Film Festival 2023

Synopsis

Young independent filmmaker and reporter Lina goes underground to document the Syrian revolution, adopting a series of aliases to avoid detection from the violent state. In Damascus, she is Lina, one of the many of the silent passerbys, but in Homs, she is Maya the war reporter and in Aleppo, she is Lama. 

In her debut, 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION, Lina uses video diaries of smuggled footage and memoir to share this personal story of her close group of friends – Susu, Rima, Malaz, and Bassel – as they are slowly pulled deeper into the struggle for freedom and autonomy against enemies known and unknown.  One by one, they are detained and targeted by the regime and Lina ends up alone and isolated amidst the violence and chaos.  She continues filming to find clarity. 

Months transform into years, and Lina – aka Maya aka Layla aka Lama – returns over and over again to the frontlines to witness the regime’s brutal crackdown and see her country morph into a staging ground of global proxy wars.  When Lina is detained and held captive in Aleppo, she witnesses unspeakable suffering and torture, and barely escapes.

Told over the course of a decade and against the backdrop of shifting historical forces, 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION is Lina’s story; the tale of becoming brave. 

Official trailer