Region | Syria
Syria bars leading filmmaker from travelling to France
Human rights groups said on Sunday that Syrian authorities have prevented a leading film director from travelling abroad as part of growing state restrictions on intellectual life in the country.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:26 November 2, 2008
Damascus: Human rights groups said on Sunday that Syrian authorities have prevented a leading film director from travelling abroad as part of growing state restrictions on intellectual life in the country.
Mohammad Malas, winner of international film awards for works depicting Syria's political and cultural history, was prevented from boarding the plane from Damascus to Paris last week upon orders from the intelligence apparatus, they said.
"The state wants to strengthen its grip on cultural activity and prevent communication with the outside world," said Mohannad Al Hussani, head of the Syrian Human Rights Organisation, who himself is under a travel ban.
"The list of people prevented from leaving Syria is lengthening to include many leading public figures," he said.
Another group, the National Organisation for Human Rights, said the ban shows the extent to which intelligence branches control Syria, noting that it was not issued by the judiciary.
"This is a step backwards. The constitution guarantees freedom of movement, unless there is a judicial order to prevent it," a statement by the organisation said.
There was no comment from the authorities.
Malas, born in the now Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in 1945, was prevented from leaving Syria as the 16th International Damascus Film Festival, a government-sponsored event, kicked off in the Syrian capital.
The festival will honour French actress Catherine Deneuve among others. None of Malas' works are included in a special section on Syrian cinema.
Works
Among Malas' films are Dreams of the city, which tells a story about life in Damascus before the Baath Party took power in a 1963 coup, and Moudarres about the late Fateh Al Moudarres, a Syrian master painter who used his art to depict ideas people feared to express openly.
Opponents of the ruling Baath Party have long accused it of stifling free expression by creating state companies with monopolies on film making and theatre.
The Syrian government intervened recently to try and stop the Carthage Film Festival in Tunis from showing a short film by Syrian filmmaker Reem Ali about two ex-Syrian political prisoners, the Lebanese As Safir newspaper reported.
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