Documentary, 1h 15m
Noura and Machi search for answers about their loved ones – Bassel Safadi and Paolo Dall’Oglio, who are among the over 100,000 forcibly disappeared in Syria. Faced with the limbo of an overwhelming absence of information, hope is the only thing they have to hold on to. ‘Ayouni’ is a deeply resonant Arabic term of endearment - meaning ‘my eyes’ and understood as ‘my love’. Filmed over 6 years and across multiple countries in search of answers, Ayouni is an attempt to give numbers faces, to give silence a voice, and to make the invisible undeniably visible.
Director: Yasmin Fedda
Producers: Hugh Hartford & Elhum Shakerifar
Filmed by: Yasmin Fedda & Hugh Hartford
Additional Footage: Bassel Safari Khartabil, Orwa Mokdad, Dana Trometer, Anwar Omar and many anonymous camera operators
Editors: Tom Erns & Greg Pittard
On Sunday 8th December, 2024, 54 years of Assad dynasty rule came to an end. Decades of fear and oppression lifted. Across the country, thousands of political prisoners of conscience who had been detained in Assad’s notorious prisons were released. Families of the over 130,000 forcibly disappeared rushed to find their loved ones. Some were reunited in emotional scenes, yet many - most - are still looking for answers. At the time of writing, so much remains unknown, and vital efforts for justice and accountability are already being pursued. This is a very fragile moment, but I hold onto the hope that Syrians are feeling for a brighter future, and it gives me the hope that the liberation of Palestine is within our reach. I can imagine that now more than ever.
Ayouni follows Noura and Machi search for answers about their loved ones – Palestinian Syrian Bassel Safadi and Italian Paolo Dall’Oglio, who were among over 130,000 forcibly disappeared in Syria. Faced with the limbo of an overwhelming absence of information, hope is the only thing their families have to hold on to. ‘Ayouni’ is a deeply resonant Arabic term of endearment - meaning ‘my eyes’ and understood as ‘my love’. Filmed over 6 years and across multiple countries in search of answers, Ayouni is an attempt to give numbers faces, to give silence a voice, and to make the invisible undeniably visible.
Bassel Safadi and Paolo Dall’Oglio were both revolutionaries, they held a dream and fought for freedom and democracy. They wanted an end to authoritarianism, and they wanted a peaceful transition of power for a diverse Syria. Their fates still remain unknown.
Ayouni was first released in 2020; in order to contribute to the work of campaigns such as The Syria Campaign in seeking justice and accountability for those forcibly disappeared, we ensured that it was available in all the languages spoken by countries with key decision making powers in the UN Security Council. At the time, and following advice from our comrades, we geo-blocked access to the film in Syria so as to protect families whose stories appear in the film. In December 2024 we removed the geo-block so that the film can be seen in Syria too and re-release Ayouni to honour Bassel and Paolo, as well as the thousands of people who were forcibly disappeared in Syria under tyranny.
To see so many detainees released on the 8th December brought so much happiness and promise. At the same time, mass graves are being uncovered across the country and thousands of families are still searching for answers about their loved ones' fates. Many organizations including The Syria Campaign and NoPhotoZone (established by Noura Ghazi) are doing crucial work now to support detainees and their families in their search for answers. Alongside the support of the new and nascent Syrian government, they need the support of the international community and for bodies such as the International Criminal Court to meaningfully engage with the ongoing question marks around those forcibly disappeared and still missing, so that transitional justice can be achieved.
- Yasmin Fedda, Director