Greetings From Aleppo reveals how little the news about Syria corresponds with the experiences of everyday life. Photographer Issa Touma keeps away from bold declarations; he films life, the inconsistencies and perseverance as they reveal themselves in front of his camera. War is tragic and absurd. Surviving is often highly surreal and touching in this warn-torn city.
Greetings From Aleppo
A film by &
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)
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)
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)
