5 Seasons of Revolution (2023)
A Film by LINA
An aspiring video journalist in her twenties who finds herself already facing self-reckoning. Born in Damascus, Syria, Lina starts to report on the events around her until she is compelled to become a war reporter and, later, the unexpected narrator of her own destiny.
A Coproduction of No Nation Films, Piraya Film, Docmakers
Producers: Diana El Jeiroudi, Orwa Nyrabia, Torstein Grude, Ilja Roomans, Lina
Executive Producer: Laura Poitras
Germany, Norway, The Nerherlands, Syria, Qatar
95 min, 2K DCP, 5.1, English & Arabic
World Premier @ SUNDANCE WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION 2023.
European Premier @ New Comers Competition the 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival
Norwegian Premiere @ International Competition HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival Oslo
Supported by:
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Doha Film Institute, IDFA Bertha Fund, Mediefondet Zefyr, The Netherlands Film Fund, SANAD, International Media Support, Filmkraft Rogaland, Fritt Ord, Bergesenstiftelsen, InMaat Productions, IDA (fiscal sponsorship), Heinrich Boell Foundation / Gunda Werner Institut.
WiP Presented at:
Visions du Reel – VdR Work in Progress | 2022
Winner of the Lightdox Award for the project with the highest international potential
Venice Film Festival – Venice Gap Financing Market | 2022
Long 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 passer-bys, 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.