Synopsis

Warshafollows Mohammad, a Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut. One morning he volunteers to take on one of the tallest and notoriously most dangerous cranes in Lebanon. Away from everyone’s eyes, he is able to live out his secret passion and find freedom

This ground-breaking film has been selected to screen at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival (Jan 20-30) and Clermont Ferrand (Jan 28-Feb 5).

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Warsha从一名名为穆罕默德（Mohammad）的叙利亚工人生活的一天开始，由多学科艺术家Khansa扮演。从开幕式的场景中，我们立即被他的危险，不确定性和压抑的欲望所吸引。

Before starting his day, he stares into nothingness from his bed, looking depressed and encumbered.当他去洗手间时，他在红色的女主角的水槽上设置了一张照片。很明显，他有一个渴望以类似的方式表达自己，但是突然之间，门口爆发了巨大的冲击 - 这种声音代表了谴责穆罕默德的欲望。他疯狂地隐藏了图片，并向其他劳动者打开了门。

他对他的新工作服从地尴尬地操作or of one of the tallest and most dangerous cranes in Lebanon. With excellent cinematography, Director Dania Bdeir succeeds in making us feel a tinge of anxiety upon first looking at the task ahead of Mohammad. And especially when he begins his climb, it’s hard not to cringe at the infinitesimal city below.

Mohammad is understandably anxiety stricken to where he can’t respond to radio calls and he requires a few drags of a cigarette to calm himself once he makes it to his perch. What follows is simultaneously unexpected and thought provoking.

When Mohammad settles in, he finds a sense of freedom in the solitude of his new heights, which he wouldn’t have anticipated.Warshaeases the viewer from the experience of anxiety to freedom, with the two often being intermixed. It shows us how one’s inner world can be vibrant and rich, and also defy the oppressive norms of one’s culture.

The Bad

尽管Warsha对于一个相当多的听众来说，这对于一个了解黎巴嫩文化和叙利亚内战文化的观众来说可能会更有意义。这部电影在这种情况下解决了性别规范，压迫和资本主义。但这不是电影的真正负面方面。观看者只是注释，在基本层面上了解国家的社会政治可能是欣赏这部电影的先决条件。

Importantly, Bdeir focuses on the treatment of undocumented construction workers who are often underpaid and whose living standards are subpar–in addition to other restrictions on gender expression and sexuality. As stated above, it helps to understand this plight to get truly invested in Mohammad’s narrative.

Cinematography and Acting

Khansa’s acting is subtle and believable, making us see him as a real, multifaceted person. His exquisite portrayal is aided by the visuals in this film, including camera angles and color. When Mohammad is among other workers there’s a homogeneous color to the film, making Mohammad appear to be simply a worker among workers rather than an individual. This uniformity transitions into more stark color contrasts as Mohammad begins and accomplishes his ascent.

The low angle shots and aerial views also make us feel the weight and breadth of Mohammad’s undertaking. It takes the task from a job to a journey and we easily put ourselves in his place during the process.

When his inner world breaks through, the film takes a 180 turn and lets vivacious imagery of his aerial world supplant the tepid colors on the ground.

Final Thoughts

Although the subject matter of this Sundance short seems very specific, there are universal messages that can be drawn from it. One of which is that the path to freedom can be fear-inducing but ultimately lucrative. Meanwhile, it also makesus think about the layers of one’s identity and how forms of expression are unique and dependent on context.

Often it is said that identity is formed through our interactions with others, butWarshatells us that there’s something deep within us that’s innate and can come to fruition by climbing far outside our social environment.