“We Underestimated the Violence of the Regime”: Lina on 5 Seasons of Revolution

Like most conflicts heavily documented by Western media, the ongoing Syrian civil war is one in which nearly all nuance has been left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately, Lina’s 5 Seasons of Revolution, a revelatory Sundance debut from a Damascus video journalist who (for safety reasons) goes simply by her first name, shatters the trend. Currently based in Europe, Lina spent 2011-2015 filming her country’s path from high revolutionary hopes to ultimately shattered dreams. But even more importantly, she did so in the most personal and truthful way, by turning the camera on herself and four of her closest friends — all educated, anti-regime, cosmopolitan twentysomethings in the capital city (and al-Assad stronghold) who find themselves surrounded by folks who’d just as soon look away. Until, of course, they — along with the rest of the world — could not. With the help of documentary heavies like producer Orwa Nyrabia and EP Laura Poitras, Lina has transformed that material into the most poignant of coming-of-age tales. To learn about her journey from college grad to accidental war journalist, Filmmaker reached out to the director soon after the film’s Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition premiere.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.