Jerusalem Fund

This chapter presents the following elements to draw a picture of Malas’s student days in Moscow and the importance of Quneitra in his early films: a brief excerpt from the literary memoir he wrote, “Portrait of a friend” about his friendship with Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim when they were roommates in Moscow; and images of the destruction of Quneitra in reality and as Malas portrayed in Everything is Alright Mr. Police Officer, Quneitra 74, and The Memory.

Recognized as gems of Arab film history, Ahlam al-Medina (Dreams of the City), 1984, and Al Layl (The Night), 1992, reveal the distinctive cinematic voice of Muhammad Malas. Both films are quasi-autobiographical journeys that poetically interrogate his memories of Syria, from a coming-of-age story set in Damascus in the 1950s to a poetic meditation on the loss of his ancestral home, the city of Quneitra. This latter film calls on the indexicality and punctum of photography to reflect on the failures of Arab nationalism and limits of memory. Malas deftly blurs the lines between realism and fiction, past and present, and truth and history as characters confront Palestine, Arab Nationalism, patriarchy, and Syrian democracy.