Syria & Denmark | 2007 | 57′ & 53′ | Arabic & English
World Premier at the Silver Wolf Competition of IDFA International Festival of Documentary Film Amsterdam

“Sometimes there is a film that encapsulates all the tensions and contradictions of a people and a state. This is the merit of Diana El Jeiroudi’s documentary film about the situation of women, the advent of consumer society and the growing influence of Muslim fundamentalism in Syria.”

BY COUNTERPUNCH

According to Damascene tradition, Manal should cherish her role as a housewife and not wish for anything more. And yet she harbours a desire to return to work. As she attempts to balance the competing tasks of motherhood and employment, her two young daughters are mesmerized by a smiling face they see on TV everyday. She is the Arab incarnation of Barbie, Fulla.  Behind Fulla’s smile is a shrewd marketing manager, who knows that the key to Damascene society is its devotion to tradition. Mothers and daughters aspire to Fulla’s beauty and morality, casting aside Barbie and her corrupt Western accoutrements in favour of a doll that speaks to their own experience. Manal’s struggle is played out against the growth of Fulla’s brand of idealised Arab femininity across Syria and the rest of the Arab world.

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