Snow Leopard Competition

The Other Side of the Sun

الجانب الآخر من الشمس

Syria’s Submission for the 97th Academy Awards®

Followed by Q&A

Synopsis:
Years after filmmaker Tawfik Sabouni was released from Sednaya, the Syrian prison that became a symbol of oppression under the Assad regime, he returns to the place of his imprisonment. Together with four other survivors, he confronts the corridors, cells and walls that have scarred their lives. Not to reopen the trauma, but to give space to memories that were suppressed for years. By carefully reconstructing scenes from their imprisonment, the men bring daily rituals and moments of survival back to life. The empty cells become a twilight zone between life and death. With his sober, understated style, Sabouni shows how fear and the impossibility of forgetting coexist with stories, solidarity and tenderness. The Other Side of the Sun is not only a testimony from these five men, but also a reminder of the countless voices that were lost.

Schedule

Nov 14, 2024 | 09:00 PM

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Director

Tawfik Sabouni

Tawfik Sabouni is a Belgian-Syrian filmmaker and screenwriter born in Damascus in 1989. During the Syrian revolution in 2011, he picked up a camera, recording what the state wanted to erase. He was arrested and imprisoned in Sednaya. After his release, he fled Syria. In 2015, he arrived in Belgium. After studying law for three years, he changed to film and took a degree in directing at INSAS – Institut Supérieur des Arts in Brussels, graduating in 2022. He also studies acting and works in radio and as a dubbing actor in television. His short films “On the edge of madness” (2021) and “Stateless” (2022) were screened at international festivals. Sabouni draws on his own experience to create films of rare emotional intensity. “The Other Side of the Sun” (2026) is his debut feature.