Director

Dina Naser

Jordan, France, Lebanon | 2019 | 85 min | Arabic with subtitles in English

• Producer Dina Naser, Palmyre Badinier
• Production Company Jordan Pioneers, Urban Factory
• Screenplay Dina Naser
• Cinematography Hasan  Abu Hammad, dina Naser
• Editing Najwa  Khachimi, Qutaiba  Barhamji
• Sound Antonin  Dalmasso
• Cast
• Contacts

  MADD Moshawash

  hello@maddmoshawash.com

About the Film

In her first documentary, which took four years to develop, director Dina Naser follows the journey of a Syrian family who fled—with their children—from the yoke of war to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. With special focus on the middle daughter, Marwa, who was 11 years old at the time, Tiny Souls raises a number of serious existential questions, the most prominent one revolving around the matter of dispersion. This issue may represent the key to understanding “the first generation of the diaspora”—victims of the 1948 catastrophe—the generation of the director’s father who fled Palestine when he was around the same age as Marwa. Throughout the film, the impact of Naser’s father’s tales of the camp reigns evident, as she chooses to study the life of “the second generation of the diaspora"—victims of the Syrian war.

Because fear and anticipation prevail in the lives of those residing in the camp, equally affecting individuals of all ages, Marwa’s family is prompted to embark on the adventure of exploring life outside, in search of a safer arrangement. However, the failure of this attempt teaches Marwa, at a very young age, that every choice and deliberate decision come at a price. Subsequently, she starts to independently apply that lesson to everything, including her personal affairs. In this light, Tiny Souls represents a painful documentation of the state of “the second generation of the diaspora," who are now paying the price for an older generation’s oblivious choices and decisions. They are paying it with the best years of their lives.

Mohamed Atef