Producer Sigrid Dyekjaer hosted a Q&A discussion in place of director, Feras Fayyad after a screening of “The Cave,” presented by National Geographic at the Tribeca Screening Room in Manhattan on Wednesday, December 18.
Oscar nominee Feras Fayyad delivers a harrowing story of the Syrian war with his powerful new documentary, The Cave. The setting is an underground hospital on the outskirts of Damascus, connected to the outside world by a series of tunnels and basement shelters known as the Cave. The hospital is managed by 29-year-old Dr. Amani Ballour, along with her female colleagues Samaher and Dr. Alaa, and the camera follows them as they deal with daily bombings, supply and food shortages, and the constant threat of chemical attacks, all while showing incredible courage, compassion, and strength in the face of terror.
Danish Producer, Sigrid Dyekjaer held a Q&A Panel directly after the screening, facetiming in Dr. Amani from Syria, where the audience had a chance to learn more about the process behind this groundbreaking documentary. Read below for their insights:
This question is directed at Sigrid. I want to understand, Faras started working on this project before his documentary, “Last Men in Aleppo,” so tell me when you first met him, what struck you about this project? What message was there that hadn’t been shared before?
Sigrid Dyekjaer: Hello, my name is Sigrid, I’m a Danish producer and I’m really happy to be here in New York. Thank you all so much for being here. For those of you that don’t know, the American embassy would not give Feras his visa so that is why I am standing in for him today. He is Syrian and a refugee and those are two things you shouldn’t be in America I guess. Anyway, I just want to give you a little background on how I met Feras and also why my company fell in love with this project. We are a company of four women, and we only do films for the big screen and we do author-driven films so we are not the kind of company that would typically be interested in doing a war movie. So I met Feras in Berlin and I loved “The Last Man in Aleppo” and it struck me very hard, but I was missing the women. Maybe because I am a woman and I have a female-run company and two daughters. And I thought to myself, we also want to know what is happening with the women. When Feras shot “Last Men in Aleppo” they were taking people out of the buildings that were crushed, and of course they took those people out and brought them to the hospital. And the guy who drove the ambulance was Dr. Amani’s brother. And so Feras saw that these hospitals were underground but he was specifically looking for a hospital that also gave a picture of another society, a picture of what Syria could be. Namely, that it could be run by an incredible woman like you, Amani, who stands up for female rights, so The Cave was sort of like a miniature world of what Syria could be. And so when I saw this material and I saw especially a lot of scenes with you, Amani, I was totally struck, because I saw this is more than just a woman in a patriarchal society. She is a woman that has force and power and where also I felt that somehow the camera gave you, Amani, the position to do it. So I felt that the project was right for our company, where there is a strong connection between the camera or the director and cinematographer and the main characters. And I felt there was a unity.
Dr. Amani, obviously there’s no way to know going into this project what you were going to come out the other side with, but when you first said yes and when Feras was first interviewing you, what were the things that made you accept the possibility of doing a documentary film?
Dr. Amani Ballour: Hi everybody and thank you for having me, and thank you to National Geographic because you make our voices be heard. Firstly, when Feras asked me to make a film in this hospital actually it was very difficult and very dangerous because at that time they were targeting hospitals and that was very dangerous to us. When they saw any individual come anyplace they targeted the place and it was dangerous to me, and my community didn’t accept that. It was a big problem, so first I said no, it’s not possible. And I have to do a lot of things and I have no time but we discussed that and I talked a lot with Feras and with the photographers and and we talked a lot about the importance of telling the truth. At that time I was pretty frustrated because we were under siege for three years already before we start filming and we thought none of us would survive and nothing will change. So I want this story to be shown to all the people so that they would know the truth from this film and that was very important to me, more important than the technicalities. So I said yes if they promise not to disturb me in my work because I have to work a lot and I was worried about dealing with cameras. It was difficult the first few months but then it worked out and I believe this is very important.
When you were going through that process there’s a lot of powerful imagery, I mean some of the scenes are absolutely devastating. Were there any moments that you were glad that they captured it on film so that people would see the trauma and the disaster?
Dr. Amani Ballour: First it was very embarrassing to me when they filmed me in my special moments when I talk with my friends and it was difficult for me in the beginning. But Feras wanted people to see us as humans, and we are really humans we are not machines. I am not just a doctor or just a manager of the hospital so he convinced me to share my special moments and it really wasn’t easy to me but I believe it’s important to tell the people we are humans so they can feel what we feel. And so many people talked to me after they watched the film and they said very kind and very strong words to me so I feel good about telling my story and showing people the story of Syrian people, their struggle, and the struggle of Syrian women and tell about our community. So I feel very proud that people know the truth after watching this film and I’m very grateful for everyone who watched this film.
And being the first female manager of a hospital and being elected to that position, and then having that early argument with that man, who said “What are you doing here” and obviously you’re doing a lot of good, are you glad that people are seeing that message and then maybe people are being inspired beyond that and maybe their opinions on that will change. Are you getting a lot of feedback from your community and from people that you started working with?
Dr. Amani Ballour: Yes, I wanted the other women in my community to see that and this is very important for them to see that I can do what the male doctors in the hospital can do and there is no difference between men and women. So many men, they refuse to see a women in this place, they say you have to stay at home and it’s not your job and it’s very bad situation here and you can’t manage and that really makes me angry, makes me frustrated but I wanted to prove that we can do that and actually I believe that I make change in this hospital. And I hope that inspires other women and other girls to believe that you can do anything- just believe in your ability. I hope young girls to see this because they are full of power and it’s so great to inspire them.
