Little Syria
A documentary by Madalina Rosca and Reem Karssli
A story of unlikely quests. A search for the disappeared through rubble and tortured bodies, a race for survival, and the possibility of hope.
Little Syria was filmed over the course of 20 years in Syria and Germany, as well as in Turkey, Greece, Poland, Hungary, France and Spain.
The coming-of-age of a brother, his sister and her boyfriend, trapped between the Syria from which they ran for their lives, and a Europe which seems at times to embrace them and at others to push them back.
In the time of making of this film, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to leave their homes. Syrians asked for asylum in more than 130 countries.
Reem, Mohammed and Yasser try to make sense of what is left of the Syrian Revolution. Little Syria is a confidential insight into the invisible lives of Syrian refugees.
Edited by MADALINA ROSCA, REEM KARSSLI
Music by ANDREI KIVU
Artworks NAJAH AL-BUKAI
Filmed by REEM KARSSLI, DAVID SIMON GROSS
Production Manager LAURENTIU BRATAN
Colourist ANDU RADU
Sound Design MIHNEA CIULEI
Produced by PAUL ARNE WAGNER, MADALINA ROSCA
A MAKE A POINT Production
A Documentary by MADALINA ROSCA, REEM KARSSLI
“In order to stay in power, they ripped the country to pieces, into its constituent parts. You can’t even hide underground.”
Tobias Schneider, author of Nowhere to Hide on the use of chemical weapons in Syria
The people living in Europe’s Little Syria try to find the missing and the dead, and bring the responsible for torture and killing to justice. This, in the hostile climate of a constant rise of the far right.
Watch the Official Trailer
LITTLE SYRIA is a confidential insight into the invisible lives of refugees.
“This film is a manifesto for human rights in which the camera gets close without intruding”
Journalist, Dilema, Romania
“A work of great testimonial value, it finds a notable complement in its cinematographic treatment, which includes a diary-like log and meaningful archive of over 20 years. Honest and raw material that offers a hopeful perspective to those who are going through the long process of rebuilding a home far from their devastated homelands”
Film Director and Curator, Argentina
“The journey goes from the gas attacks of the Assad regime to the brutal violence at Europe’s external borders”
Journalist, Deutschlandfunk, Germany
“Little Syria should be understood exactly like this: as another chapter, a warning of history”
Journalist, Tagesspiegel, Germany
“A powerful humanist film”
Producer, Al Jazeera, Sweden
“Little Syria offers a moving portrait of Syrian refugees carving out new lives in the city”
Journalist, The Berliner, Germany
“Worth seeing”
Journalist, The Spot, Germany
If you have a festival or press request as well as if you wish to contact the filmmakers or producers, please write to us:
point [at] makeapoint.ngo