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9781788311731

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Wessels brings a filmmaker's eye and an anthropologist's sensibility to this landmark examination of Syrian documentaries and their creators. Documenting Syria recognizes Syrians as central figures in contemporary Arab media production. Its unflinchingly-reflective narrative draws a line that stretches from eminent professional filmmakers of the late 20th century, to new- generation documentarians of the 2000s, through to the grass-roots social media activists whose work forms a potential forensic archive. Writing from decades of deep engagement, Wessels shatters the myth that the Syrian uprising's explosion of dissident culture emerged from a creative void. -- Christa Salamandra, Professor of Anthropology, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA This extraordinary and deeply researched study connects the documentary video productions of the Syrian revolution with antecedents produced under the punishing eye of two Asad regimes. From inside revolutionary Syria, Joshka Wessels provides intimate accounts of the lives of dissident filmmakers whom she knows well and often interviewed at length. A vibrant account of digital video artist-activism throughout the country, Documenting Syria makes an essential contribution to the cultural history of the Syrian revolution and demands international attention to the regime's crimes against humanity and the people's courage, resilience and creativity. -- miriam cooke, Braxton Craven Professor of Arab Cultures, Duke University, USA An excellent exploration of a neglected form of filmmaking from a country whose amazing cultural production has historically been repressed and is currently neglected ... Wessels' book offers a sensitive and knowledgeable insight into contemporary developments in Syria's transnational and networked cultural production. -- Stefanie van de Peer, University of Glasgow, UK

Wessels brings a filmmaker's eye and an anthropologist's sensibility to this landmark examination of Syrian documentaries and their creators ... Writing from decades of deep engagement, Wessels shatters the myth that the Syrian uprising's explosion of dissident culture emerged from a creative void. -- Christa Salamandra, Professor of Anthropology, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA This extraordinary and deeply researched study connects the documentary video productions of the Syrian revolution with antecedents produced under the punishing eye of two Assad regimes ... Documenting Syria makes an essential contribution to the cultural history of the Syrian revolution and demands international attention to the regime's crimes against humanity and the people's courage, resilience and creativity. -- miriam cooke, Braxton Craven Professor of Arab Cultures, Duke University, USA An excellent exploration of a neglected form of filmmaking from a country whose amazing cultural production has historically been repressed and is currently neglected ... Wessels' book offers a sensitive and knowledgeable insight into contemporary developments in Syria's transnational and networked cultural production. -- Stefanie van de Peer, University of Glasgow, UK

Author Information

Josepha Ivanka (Joshka) Wessels is Senior Lecturer in Communication for Development with the School of Arts and Communication (K3) at Malmö University in Sweden and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews. She has a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Amsterdam and has carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen and Lund University. Until 2012 she was a documentary filmmaker and consultant on the MENA region, with her work being broadcast on the BBC and Al Jazeera English.

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