The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted Armenians 100 years ago and today to many displaced Syrians. From the balcony of his home, the director films with a small camera the changes in his neighborhood and his own family, interweaving his images with extracts from classical films to illustrate the parallels between the Armenian genocide and Syrians’ reality today.     Produced by Bidayyat 2015

All I know about my grandmother Evdokia is that more than a century ago she made her way barefoot from Turkey to Syria, fleeing the massacres against the Armenians; that she hid her identity and ethnicity, changed religions and gave brought forth my family. Perhaps it was my sense that our stories were similar that led me to look closer at her life. For I have immigrated back to Turkey, due to the bloody events now taking place in Syria. My interest in her story began with a desire to overcome my fraught relationship with my mother, who found in our conversations... more

I still remember—way back in the mists of the distant past—that warm feeling when I first picked up a camera. As though I was experiencing a prophecy that one day I would use this instrument until I wore it away to nothing. Back then I carried it like a sceptre; today I bear the camera like a shield. Today, I remember the first time I literally did this—bore it like a shield. I’ve forgotten many dates and events, but that day—June 26, 2012—stays engraved in my memory. At the end of a long and tiring day my feet led me,... more

One hundred years have not been enough to remove the effect of the massacres and forced displacement on the Armenian people at the hands of the Ottomans since 1915 until today. Back then, Armenians endured a long journey of misery in an attempt to find a safe place to live in this harsh world, fleeing from their homeland Armenia to Syria, where they eventually found refuge, especially in the city of Deir ez-Zor. The people of Deir ez-Zor offered the Armenians fleeing from death safety and a new beginning.  Today, 100 years later, the Armenians of Deir-ez-Zor have to go... more