The Syrian film ‘Fotograf’ raises a question that seems simple on the surface but is profound in essence: what remains for a person when places change, days pass, and details he once thought fixed fall away. Objects do not give us our identity; rather, it is the memories we cling to that do so.

The short fiction film has toured several festivals. Recently, it won the ‘Justice and Peace’ award at the 9th Middle East Film Festival, held last June in The Hague, Netherlands.

‘Fotograf’ highlights the repercussions of the war in Syria and its impact on child labor and children being deprived of education to support their families financially. The film was produced by the Syrian General Establishment for Cinema. The screenplay and dialogue were written by Bouthaina Naissa. The film stars Suleiman al-Ahmad, Ghalib Shandawiya, Jamal al-Ali, and Safouh Mimass. It is directed by Mohanad Kalthoum.

The film tells the story of two boys bound by a deep friendship: ‘Sultan’ and ‘Yahya’, who wander through their city amid the rubble of buildings, remnants of furniture, and belongings that bear witness to a life that once existed but is no more. They live in shelter camps. Sultan leads his blind friend Yahya as they collect leftover tools from under the debris to sell to a merchant for a few liras. While searching through the ruins of Yahya’s home, they find a camera belonging to his family. They manage to turn it on and take pictures of each other amidst the collapsed buildings, making these photographs witnesses to their memories. As Sultan tries to take more photos, the rubble of the building collapses on his friend’s head.

Director Mohanad Kalthoum says, ‘The award the film received confirmed to me that cinema is still capable of opening a dialogue between people of different languages and cultures.’ He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that the true value of any award lies in the question it poses: why did this film reach people? ‘From its inception, “Fotograf” was not seeking sympathy or condemning anyone; rather, it tried to approach the human being when forced to cling to what remains of his memory and dignity. So I felt that the award’s name met the spirit of the film,’ he said.

The two leads of the Syrian film ‘Fotograf’ (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Kalthoum explains that ‘hiding the camera behind the characters was my biggest obsession during shooting. I was looking for an image that breathes quietly, light that resembles life, and places that bear the traces of time without speaking. I didn’t want a beautiful image as much as I wanted an honest one, because honesty remains in the viewer’s memory more than any visual dazzle. That’s why I always say that “Fotograf” is not a film about war, but about the human being resisting oblivion, because what terrifies a person most is not losing his home, but losing his story.’

The ‘Justice and Peace’ award crowns a journey the film undertook through several Arab and international festivals, during which it won several awards. But Mohanad Kalthoum does not view these participations as a race, but as a journey in which the film changes with every audience that watches it. He says about that: ‘Sometimes I would leave the screening hall feeling that the audience had discovered in the film what I was not aware of. This is one of the most beautiful surprises of cinema. That’s why I don’t like to measure the film’s success by the number of awards, but by the number of times it managed to leave a silent impact in the viewer’s heart after the screen goes dark.’

Kalthoum explains the choice of the title ‘Fotograf’ saying: ‘I was looking for a title that does not describe the film, but opens a door to enter it. For me, a photograph is a memory that resists time. Sometimes one image is enough to carry a whole life and bring back to us people and places that no longer exist except inside us. That’s how the film was born.’

Syrian director Mohanad Kalthoum (Asharq Al-Awsat)

‘Fotograf’ carries a clear human dimension and seems as if it puts memory on trial. But Kalthoum emphasizes that ‘I do not view memory as a place to escape to whenever we miss the past; rather, it is the place where we protect our humanity from oblivion. So in “Fotograf,” memory was not a space for nostalgia, but a space for contemplation and for re-posing questions,’ according to him.

Kalthoum affirms that he dealt with the script as a space for dialogue between the writer’s vision and his vision as a director. He says: ‘It was important for me that every scene be closer to the characters, and more capable of expressing through image and silence, not words. I translated this feeling into a quiet visual language that leaves the viewer room to feel more than what is told to them, because I believe the best films are those that trust the viewer’s sensitivity and do not impose a single interpretation.’

Asked about Syrian cinema and whether it has moved beyond war to ask questions about identity, Kalthoum says: ‘I think Syrian cinema today stands before an important opportunity to rediscover itself, not because the war is over, but because cinema cannot remain a prisoner of the event forever. The real challenge today is not to narrate what happened, but to understand what it left inside the human being.’

Mohanad Kalthoum has presented numerous fiction and documentary works that participated in international festivals and won several international awards. Among his fiction films are ‘Why,’ ‘Yalla Play,’ ‘On the Roof of Damascus,’ and ‘Hope Faith Love,’ and among his documentaries are ‘Al-Barzakh,’ ‘The Syrian Silk Journey,’ and ‘This Land.’ He is the founder of the ‘Yalla Cinema’ project and the ‘Damascus Cinema Days’ festival for children’s and youth films.