The Youth Rally Against Extremism has chosen animation as their weapon to confront both the regime and any other emerging form of tyranny.
The idea was born of the work of Wael Toubaji and Delaware Suleiman, both artists with a focus on animation. Together, they produced “They have children,” a short animated film featuring Rana, a six-year-old girl trying to record a video message to send to her father’s captors.
“The film was born as a reaction to the huge number of kidnappings and abductions in Syria, which have dramatically increased under different justifications,” Toubaji said to SyriaUntold.
“At that time, we also started hearing about ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and its awful practices. I read about a journalist who had been abducted by ISIS and I was shocked by what he recounted. I realized that we, all Syrians, were suddenly trapped between the jaws of the regime and those of extremists with their own agendas.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2UDAwLqtWU
Journalist Husam Mawsali has also been instrumental to the development of the project. His article on how groups like ISIS are complementing the work of the regime in the liberated areas, was the basis of the ‘No difference’ animated short film.” The film, whose motto is “Don’t let extremism steal our revolution,” highlights the similarities between the nature of the Assad regime and that of extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda.
The Youth Rally also produced “One hand,” a film that has been present at several international festivals, and “Freedom after Freedom”. Their work is becoming increasingly popular, but the team continues to struggle to move forward.
“Our team is very small, and animation productions need many qualified professionals involved,” Toubaji explains. “Also, to share our work I have to do it manually, sending it to all my contacts and friends, one by one, to ensure that we get views. And we struggle with basic issues like finding music free of copyright to use in the films.”
The team strongly believes in animation as an effective tool to depict the harsh realities faced by the Syrian people. “Animation is more and more used as a documentation tool, there is even an animated documentary festival in Germany, Animadoc,” Toubaji says. “Syrian animation is part of the huge revolutionary production, full of art and creativity.!
