9 days – From my window in Aleppo

A film by &

Syria, the Netherlands | 13' | 10/2015 | documentary

One morning in August 2012, renowned Syrian photographer Issa Touma saw young men lugging sandbags into his street. It turned out to be the start of the Syrian uprising in the city of Aleppo. Touma grabbed his camera and spent nine days holed up in his apartment, recording what was happening outside. The result? An unprecedented glimpse into a war that has been raging for three years now.

Issa Touma

Biography

Issa Touma is a photographer based in Aleppo (Syria). In 1996 he established Le Pont, a gallery and workshop for photography. In 1997 he started the Interna- tional Photography Festival Aleppo. His work can be found in international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Filmography

  • 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo (2015)
  • Greetings from Aleppo (2017)
Square Eyes -

Thomas Vroege

Biography & Filmography

Thomas Vroege (Rotterdam, 1988) is a filmmaker based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He graduated from Sint Joost Academy of Arts with the short documentary film The Son & The Stranger which won a WILDCARD award from The Netherlands Filmfund. His film So Help Me God is a poetic documentary journey through the financial industry and will premiere at the Dutch Filmfestival in September 2015. Vroege worked as an editor for the documentary film installation Oil & Paradise by Ad Nuis. 9 Days is a short documentary about the start of the Syrian uprising in the city of Aleppo, made in collaboration with colleague film maker Floor van der Meulen and the Syrian photographer Issa Touma. Since 2012, Vroege is an advisor for the Dutch Cultural Media Fund. In 2013 he was an advisor for the Dutch Filmfestival for the selection of documentary films.

  • 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo (2015)
  • Greetings from Aleppo (2017)
  • A Stranger Came to Town (2017)
Square Eyes - Director - Thomas Vroege - Square Eyes

Floor van der Meulen

Biography & Filmography

In 2012, Floor graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy. After graduation she worked as an assistant director for documentary filmmaker Klaartje Qurijns and other Dutch film directors. She worked on video art related projects and developed the short documentary Bekerrapers (The Cup Collectors) with production company KeyDocs. In 2014 she made her international debut as a documentary filmmaker with Paradijsbestormers (Storming Paradise) in collaboration with production company KeyDocs and BNN. In 2015, together with Syrian artist Issa Touma and Dutch co-director Thomas Vroege, she made the international acclaimed short documentary 9 Days – From My Window In Aleppo. This short documentary was shown on film festivals around the world and won the European Film Award for best short 2016. In 2016 she also made here debut as a fiction director with In Vrijheid (In Exile) which was nominated for a the Dutch Golden Calfs Best Television Drama and won Best Actress. Together again with Issa Touma and Thomas Vroege, she made a follow-up story on life in Aleppo: Greetings from Aleppo.

Today she works on the feature length documentary Last Male Standing and is developing her first fiction feature.

  • Paradijsbestormers / Storming Paradise (2014)
  • You&I (2012)
  • 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo (2015)
  • In Vrijheid / In Exile (2016)
  • Greetings from Aleppo (2017)
Square Eyes -

Crew

Story: Issa Touma
Cinematographer: Issa Touma
Director: Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege, Floor van der Meulen
Editor: Thomas Vroege, Floor van der Meulen
Sound Design: Tom Jansen
Producer: Jos De Putter
Produced by: Deepfocus Webdocs. Paradox
Translations: Susan Osman, Ephraim Ishac
Graphics Andrea Vendrik

Festivals

Won: European Film Award for Best Short Film 2016

  • DOK Leipzig – International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany (26 October – 1 November, 2015)
    International programme
  • International Short Film Festival Winterthur, Switzerland (3 – 8 November, 2015)
    International Competition
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands (27 January – 7 February, 2016)
    As Short As It Takes
  • Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, France (5 February – 13 February, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Las Palmas International Film Festival, Spain (2 – 13 March, 2016)
    International Short Film Competition
  • Tampere Film Festival, Finland (9 – 13 March, 2016)
    International Competition & Out of competition: Reality Check Special Merit for Documentary & Honorable Mention International Competition
  • Glasgow Short Film Festival, Scotland (16 – 20 March, 2016)
    Out of Competition: Focus on Syria
  • REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival, Canada (16 – 20 March, 2016)
    Official Competition
  • One World Romania International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Romania (21 – 27 March, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • Kino Pavasaris – Vilnius International Film Festival, Lithuania (31 March – 14 April, 2016)
    Out of Competition: Very Short Night
  • Middle East Now Festival, Italy (5 – 10 April, 2016)
  • Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen, the Netherlands (6 – 10 April, 2016)
    Dutch Competition
  • Filmfest Dresden, Germany (12 – 17 April, 2016)
    Out of Competition: Short Film Open Air
  • Kinodot – International Minimalist Short Film Festival, st Petersburg (15 – 17 April, 2016)
    Observer Documentary Competition Won: Audience Prize
  • Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Ukraine (20 – 24 April, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Fragments – International Human Rights Filmfestival (21 – 25 April, 2016)
    Out of Competition
  • Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries & Shorts, Egypt (20 – 26 April, 2016)
    Official Competition
  • WE Film Festival, the Netherlands (28 – 30 April, 2016)
  • Ankara International Film Festival, Turkey (28 April – 8 May, 2016)
    Out of competition: Eyes on War
  • VIS Vienna Independent Shorts, Austria (25 May – 31 May, 2016)
    Fiction & Documentary Competition
  • Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Germany (31 May – 6 June, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Mediterranean Film Festival, Croatia (3 – 11 June, 2016)
    Short Film Competition
  • Huesca International Film Festival, Spain (17 – 25 June, 2016)
    International Short Documentary Competition Won: Dazante for best Short Documentary
  • Fest – New Directors | New Films Festival, Portugal (20 – 27 June, 2016)
    Short Documentary Competition
  • Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art, Ukraine (4 – 7 August, 2016)
    International Competition
  • DokuFest – International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kosovo (5 – 13 August, 2016)
    International Documentary Short Films Competition
  • FESTCURTASBH – Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival, Brazil (5 – 14 August, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brazil (24 August – 2 September, 2016)
    International Program
  • Odense Internationale Film Festival, Denmark (29 August – 4 September, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • LATINARAB International Film Festival, Argentina (1 – 12 September, 2016)
    Arab Shorts Competition
  • Docfest – Cross-Border Documentary Film Festival, the Netherlands (15 – 18 September, 2016)
  • Helsinki International Film Festival, Finland (15 – 25 September, 2016)
    Official Short Film Selection
  • Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, United Kingdom (20 – 25 September, 2016)
    International Competition Won: European Film Award nomination
  • Nederlands Film Festival, the Netherlands (21 – 30 September, 2016)
    Out of Competition
  • War on Screen Film Festival, France (28 September – 2 October, 2016)
    Official Competition
  • BFI London Film Festival, United Kingdom (5 – 16 October, 2016)
    Official Selection Won: Best Short Film
  • shnit International Shortfilmfestival, Switzerland (5 – 16 October, 2016)
    International Competition Won: Best Film under 20 minutes
  • Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Italy (7 – 16 October, 2016)
    Movie Competition
  • Arab Film Festival, United States (7 – 16 October, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • Film Fest Gent, Belgium (11 – 21 October, 2016)
    Out of competition: EFA Short Film Weekend
  • Festival CineMigrante, Argentina (11 – 19 October, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • Thess International Short Film Festival, Greece (17 – 22 October, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden (24 – 30 October, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Louis International Film Festival, United States (3 – 13 November, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • SOUQ Film Festival, Italy (4 – 6 November, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • ALCINE – Festival de Cine de Alcalá de Henares / Comunidad de Madrid, Spain (4 – 11 November, 2016)
    European Competition
  • Seville European Film Festival, France (4 – 12 November, 2016)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Ljubljana International Film Festival, Slovenia (9 – 20 November, 2016)
    Short Film Competition
  • International Bosphorus Film Festival, Turkey (10 – 18 November, 2016)
    International Short Film Competition
  • Bratislava International Film Festival, Slovak Republic (11 – 17 November, 2016)
    Short Film Competition
  • Sleepwalkers International Short Film Festival, Estonia (12 – 16 November, 2016)
    International Competition
  • L’Alternativa – Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona, Spain (14 – 20 November, 2016)
    Out of Competition: l’Alternativa Hall Selects
  • interfilm International Short Film Festival. Germany (14 – 20 November, 2016)
    Documentary Competition
  • Marda Loop Justice Film Festival, Canada (15 – 20 November, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Germany (15 – 20 November, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Shortfilmfestival Cologne, Germany (16 – 20 November, 2016)
    Best Of Festivals
  • Zinebi International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain (18 – 25 November, 2016)
    International Competition
  • Festival on Wheels, Turkey (25 November – 7 December, 2016)
    Official Selection
  • International Short Film Festival Leuven, Belgium (3 – 10 December, 2016)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • ZubrOFFka International Short Film Festival, Poland (7 – 11 December, 2016)
    Competition Whole Wide World Won: Best Documentary & Whole Wide World Winner
  • Flickerfest’s International Short Film Festival, Australia (6 – 15 January, 2017)
    Documentary Competition
  • Stuttgart Filmwinter- Festival for Expanded Media, Germany (18 – 22 January, 2017)
    Out of Competition: Special Program
  • Minimalen Short Film Festival, Norway (25 – 29 January, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Portland International Film Festival, United States (9 – 25 February, 2017)
    Official selection
  • Bodhisattva International Film Festival, India (16 – 23 February, 2017)
    International Documentary Competition Bodhisattva Jury Mention
  • Tampere Film Festival, Finland (8 – 13 March, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Rated SR – Socially Relevant Film Festival NY, United States (13 – 19 March, 2017)
    Official Selection
  • Glasgow Short Film Festival, United Kingdom (15 – 19 March)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, Romania (27 March – 2 April, 2017)
    International Competition
  • FEC Festival – European Short Film Festival, Spain (29 March – 2 April, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Festival del Cinema Europeo, Italy (3 – 8 April, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Filmfest Dresden, Germany (4 – 9 April, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen, the Netherlands (5 – 9 April, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey (5 – 15 April, 2017)
    Out of competition: Special program – A Good Neighbour
  • Busan International Short Film Festival, South Korea (25 – 30 April, 2017)
    Out of Competition: Curtain Call
  • Brussels Short Film Festival, Belgium (27 April – 7 May, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany (11 – 16 May, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Radical Frame Film Festival, Germany (16 – 17 May, 2017)
    Short Film Series
  • Krakow Film Festival, Poland (28 May – 4 June, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Inhabitants Festival, Italy (23 – 25 June, 2017)
    Focus program: Shelter
  • Tabor Film Festival, Croatia (6 – 9 July, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Curtas Vila do Conde – International Short Film Festival, Portugal (8 – 16 July, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel (13 – 23 July 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • DokuFest – International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kosovo (4 – 12 August, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • BuSho – Budapest Short Film Festival, Hungary (29 August – 3 September, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • International Short Film Festival in Drama, Greece (18 – 23 September, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • ZOOM Brühler Kinotreff, Germany (September, 2017)
    Out of competition: Short Matters
  • Marmaris International Short Filmfestival, Turkey (9 – 14 October, 2018)
    Dutch retrospective
  • Fest – New Directors | New Films Festival, Portugal (24 June – 1 July, 2019)
    Be Kind Rewind (best of 15 years FEST)