THE WAR SHOW

Obaidah, a free-spirited Syrian radio DJ, thrives on sharing art with the masses. But a quiet revolution has been brewing, inspiring her to document citizens’ dreams of an uprising. Her filming begins in 2011 in the early stages of a string of Syrian civilian protests against President Bashar al-Assad and his authoritative regime, part of a larger movement now known as the Arab Spring. With her camera in tow, the weapon most feared by the regime, Obaidah captures the rising tensions of her once peaceful homeland. She graciously introduces us to an eclectic cast of characters who evolve into her unofficial family of protesters—united in their desire for a government upheaval. When their public demonstrations meet hostile resistance, civilians and the regime unleash increasingly violent attacks on each other with no regard for the climbing death toll and mass destruction. Through daring footage of dodging regime security checkpoints and outrunning snipers’ deadly gunshots, THE WAR SHOW bravely exposes an up-close-and-personal point of view of a people willing to accept death in the name of patriotism. (In Arabic with subtitles) —A.B.