From uncanny to sensible pasts: Temporal reorderings in Syrian documentaries

Abstract

ABSTRACT While the physical battle over Syria has receded, a critical battle that remains is the battle of the narrative. This battle is at once highly public and political, while it also intervenes in deeply personal and often traumatizing memories. One important arena where this battle is played out is documentary films, mainly made in exile. This article is based on viewings of numerous Syrian documentary films and conversations and interviews with directors, producers, cinematographers, and others engaged in the facilitation, production, and curation of these films, yet focuses specifically on three of these documentaries, The War Show, For Sama, and Our Memory Belongs to Us. Engaging with theories of temporalities of crisis, we argue that these Syrian documentaries perform a teleological reordering that serves to turn an uncanny past into a sensible past, allowing for new orientations towards the future.