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A descent into the world of torture

Privacy of Wounds
Regissør: Dalia Kury
(Norge)

SYRIA: In a simulated prison cell, in a basement in Oslo, sit three men from Syria. It is a strong political documentary.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

"Think there I was, in Aleppo. We were at a family home and had tea. They were so friendly. What is happening now is so cruel. ”

My mother, now over 80 years old, was 10 years ago on an exciting theme trip to Syria. Every time she sees pictures flickering across the TV screen from cities like Aleppo and Homs, she gets sad at heart. She shakes her head and wonders if there is an explanation that an ancient civilization is literally turning into ruins and ashes.

How does the situation appear to the Syrians themselves? They are millions in exile, most in neighboring countries in the Middle East, and many thousands in Europe. What do they think of themselves who have been in Bashar al-Assad's prison? How can we best understand it? Film is a key word. Such a movie has just been made – in Oslo.

Hasan shows us how he used a chicken leg to sew small wounds he received in prison.

In a simulated prison cell, in a basement in Oslo, sit three men. For three days they are "forced" to be together. The room is bare, three simple mattresses on the floor and a retreaded window. We hear traffic outside. The men will talk about their experiences from some of Syria's worst prisons. No interviews take place – only the three are present, with three cameras set up in advance. Director Dalia Kury sits in a separate control room on the outside and provides regular food delivery through a hatch in a door to them during the filming period. On a rare occasion, her voice breaks in when she asks them for something. Otherwise, it's just the three. In this way, the film provides Privacy of Wounds us what the title promises: personal experiences and injuries.

Torture's own world

"There are so many things I want to talk about, but I don't quite know where to start," Hasan says early in the film. He lives in Norway, and together with Mazen, who lives in Germany, they belong to a younger generation. The third, Khaldoon, is a few years older, and currently lives in Switzerland. He has been the longest in Syrian prison for XNUMX years. The other two have been sitting for a year and a half.

Privacy of Wounds

Their experiences turn out to have been like a descent into hell. Slowly, the men open up to each other, and they begin with the theme torture. It's funny enough what seems like the easiest to talk about. Almost "business-like", they post about water hoses, electrical appliances, punches and kicks. Teeth that knock out. It shudders in me. How would I have reacted?

"I want to sell my own skin to get you free." Syrian father of his imprisoned son

They also all tell of a numbness, almost as if they do not feel the pain they were exposed to. Rather, they begin to wonder if the torturer has a family. How could one of their own countrymen have become like that, and now stand there and literally piss on them?

Perhaps the biggest torture was not seeing the sun. Or when they heard noises from a bridal party from outside. Then they cried down in the prison, wept for the Syrian people. They say that pride is eternal, while pain is limited in time.

Common Syrians

These are people who refuse to bend their necks. They are not heroes. They are ordinary Syrians.

In the film, they lie on thin mats on a floor in Oslo, eating, drinking tea and talking. They go from talking about torture to talking about masturbation, the fear of never having children again, and longing. The tough masculine attitude becomes softer as time goes on, and we get small glimpses into their family stories. Khaldoon, the oldest of the three, was active as early as the 1980s and was arrested early. He was visited by his father. "Your absence has broken me," said the father, as his tears hit his son hard in the face. "I want to sell my own skin to get you free." It's strong – they're crying. For twelve years, Khaldoon was imprisoned for pasting opposition posters on some brick walls.

Privacy of Wounds may become important in the post-traumatic work that must be done internally in Syria.

It is also strong when Mazen tells about the meeting with his little son, for the first time after months in solitary confinement and a year of torture. Or when Hasan shows us how he used a chicken bone to sew small wounds he got in prison. He tells about what it was like to see the sun again after 200 days in basements – where he slept on top of a mound of corpses.

Democracy for the next generation. Arabic is probably a language suitable for poetry. The three "prisoners" are at least distinctly poetic, and it seems to me that their Arabic is beautifully rendered in the English subtitles. They are concerned with appearing as worthy individuals. They believe it is now the next generation of Syrians they are fighting for – a Syria with democracy and human rights, and the film gives us an interesting insight into how oppressed Syrians, after all, survive and look ahead.

The director succeeds very well in making us forget the cameras. And so do the three main characters. The genius is that they themselves ask each other questions. Therefore, it is almost a bit disturbing when the director once or twice breaks in and asks them to talk a little more about a given topic. For this is precisely what is the great strength of the film – three men alone with themselves and their memories, in the same cell. In one sequence, they even "play" torture, slapping and beating each other.

Has attracted attention

Director Kury, who by the way lives in Oslo, has delivered a strong piece of political documentary. Kury is Jordanian and even has a family in Syria. She has made eleven documentaries, and many around the theme of Arab identity. Producer Jonathan Borge Lie (UpNorth Film) and co-producer Victor Ede (Cinephage Productions) both have exciting productions behind them. The former is known for the film DRONE, which is about the secret American drone war in Pakistan.

Privacy of Wounds may become important in the post-traumatic work that must be done internally in Syria sometime. The film may also resonate with political activists and intellectuals in other repressive Arab countries, if allowed to be shown there. But also for the rest of us, as it shows the dignity of many ordinary Syrians.


The movie is shown below Arab movie days 20-24. March 2019.

The film was also shown HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival,
25. February to 3. March 2019

Andrew P. Kroglund
Andrew P. Kroglund
Kroglund is a critic and writer. Also Secretary General of BKA (Grandparents' Climate Action).

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