Jumhuriyat Al-Samt

Diana El Jeiroudi
Germany, France, Syria, Qatar, Italy | 2021 | 183 min
Swiss Premiere
Languages : Arabic, English, German, Kurdish
Subtitles : French, English

Does it begin with the camera she received aged seven, or when life collapses in Damas, splintered by dictatorship, war and international political corruption? Republic of Silence is like a fresco that encompasses more than a decade, interweaving the daily life of a humdrum existence in Berlin—lulled by solidarity and love—with the memories of a lost time.

It begins with the camera received aged seven. Or is it when life collapses in Damas, splintered by dictatorship, war and international political corruption? Republic of Silence is a fresco that encompasses more than a decade, interweaving the daily life of a humdrum existence in Berlin – lulled by solidarity and love – with memories of a lost time; that of life in Syria, of an existence turned upside down by conflicts and far too often overwhelmed by fear (“Evil makes a very loud and terrifying sound”), of struggle and of resistance. Diana El Jeiroudi whittles the film in the style of memories, through snippets, sounds, textures – that of skin, of bodies inhabited by the past and by the weight of trauma. Sometimes she seems to whisper, or perhaps even remain silent, as she had to as a child, to avoid revealing an Iraqi accent. Through comings and goings through space and time, the filmmaker ultimately interrogates the notion of “home”, in a film that powerfully and gracefully succeeds in inextricably interweaving the political with the personal.

 

Emilie Bujès

Republic of Silence, 2021
Morning Fears, 2012
Dolls, 2007
The Pot, 2005
Photography
Sebastian BaeumlerDiana El JeiroudiOrwa NyrabiaGuevara Namer
Sound
Pascal CapitolinRaphael GirardotNathalie Vidal
Editing
Katja DringenbergDiana El Jeiroudi
Production
Orwa NyrabiaNo Nation Films GmbHCamille LaemleLes Films d'IciDiana El JeiroudiNo Nation Films GmbH
Sales contact
Orwa NyrabiaNo Nation Films GmbHinfo@no-nation.de+49 30 23925383