SEP
29
2022
10:00 am
 ET
SEP
29
2022
10:00 am
 ET
timep single page

Film Screening and Discussion: The Story Won’t Die


The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) and the Atlantic Council Syria Project were pleased to host a film screening and post-show discussion of The Story Won’t Die on Thursday, September 29, 2022 at Landmark Theater’s E Street Cinema in Washington, DC.

The Story Won’t Die, from Award-winning filmmaker David Henry Gerson, is an inspiring, timely look at a young generation of Syrian artists who use their work to protest and process the world’s largest and longest displacement of people since World War II. Produced by Sundance Award-winner Odessa Rae (Navalny).

Rapper Abu Hajar, together with other celebrated creative personalities of the Syrian uprising, a Post-Rock musician (Anas Maghrebi), members of the first all female Syrian rock band (Bahila Hijazi and Lynn Mayya), a breakdancer (Bboy Shadow) and choreographer (Medhat Aldaabal), and visual artists (Tammam Azzam, Omar Imam and Diala Brisly), use their art to rise in revolution and endure in exile in this new documentary reflecting on a battle for peace, justice and freedom of expression. It is an uplifting and humanizing look at what it means to be a refugee in today’s world, and offers inspiring and hopeful vantages of a creative response to the chaos of war.

The screening was followed by a brief discussion and audience Q&A featuring filmmaker David Henry Gerson; Mai El-Sadany, Managing Director and Legal & Judicial Director at TIMEP; Qutaiba Idlbi, Nonresident Senior Fellow and Head of the Syria Project at the Atlantic Council; and Omar Alshogre, a Syrian refugee, human rights activist, and the Director for Detainee Affairs at the Syrian Emergency Task Force. Speakers reflected on the film’s stories and purpose, the status of Syrian refugees today, and the path forward for global policy on Syria and those displaced by the conflict.

Visit the film’s website to watch the trailer, find where to stream the film or attend a screening, and explore the work of the Syrian artists featured in the film.