Directors Andreas Møl Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon take viewers into the heart of Syria in The War Show

The War Show, which has its regional premiere at Diff tomorrow, is a documentary based on footage shot by Syrian radio host Obaidah Zytoon.

Obaidah Zytoon in the film The War Show. Courtesy Obaidah Zytoon

In March 2011, Syrian radio host Obaidah Zytoon took to the streets of Damascus to protest against the regime of president Bashar Al Assad. The War Show, which has its regional premiere at Diff on Friday (December 9), is a documentary based on footage she shot.

As the country spirals into civil war Zytoon leaves Damascus, travels to her hometown of Zabadani, to the rebel stronghold in Homs and to northern Syria, where she documented the rise of extremism.

Her work was brought to the attention of award-winning Danish filmmaker Andreas Møl Dalsgaard, who made Afghan Muscles (2007) and Life Is Sacred (2014). He worked as co-director with Zytoon to turn her powerful, fragmented footage into a coherent story.

They came up with the idea to divide the movie into chapters to give it “an open-ended postcard quality”, according to Dalsgaard.

“The footage that is in the film is collected by a group of artists that were all young people looking for freedom, who happen to live in a part of the world where a revolution offered the way out of a very oppressive situation and they jumped on it,” says Dalsgaard.

Zytoon saw the Assad regime as oppressive and unbearable. Yet as the months passed, and the violence escalated, she realised there was no easy solution.

“The film itself is questioning and critical of everything, including the rebels, so I think it’s not a political position that the film takes, as such, it’s more an experience,” says Dalsgaard. “It follows a group of people and friends and what happens to them.”

This illustrates how video footage can become as powerful a weapon as bombs and bullets.

“When a country is so flooded with guns and so fractured in different groups, it creates what we call the ‘economy of war’,” says Dalsgaard. “It’s like capitalism – you want to promote your product. All these different militia groups want to position themselves as running the show.

“Syria is the most-filmed country ever, where everybody has a cell phone and can upload any moment. But all these cameras doesn’t necessarily bring us any closer to the truth.”

Indeed, the film shows how the militia groups shoot footage to use as a promotional tool, to gain support and encourage others to send them money weapons.

It is the perfect, compelling illustration of how Syria became a war show like none before.

• The War Show screens at Vox Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates, at 5.30pm on Thursday and 9.45pm on Friday; Dh35 for tickets