Stars in Broad Daylight

It is rather inopportune that not much is known of Syrian cinema by a large majority of film goers. For neophytes, "Stars in broad daylight" directed by Usama Mohammad is one of the most influential films in the history of Syrian cinema. As it has long remained a forgotten little gem of world cinema, I reckon that this film can easily acquire a key place among the best films on world cinema. I was fortunate enough to have watched it on two occasions. I saw it for the first time during Osian Cinefan Asian Film Festival 2004 in New Delhi. My second viewing of this film took place in Paris, Centre Pompidou during Cinéma du reel 2006. Syrian filmmaker Ousama Mohammad studied film-making at Moscow's prestigious Soviet film school "VGIK". In 1988 this film was selected for the celebrated "Quinzaine des réalisateurs" section at Cannes International Film Festival. In this film there is a funny assortment of weird male characters. For ex-a couple of soldiers who are on leave and have come to their village to attend a wedding ceremony. There is a football coach too who was in Germany for many years. He is passing his wisdom to young children who are exceedingly passionate about football. The women of the house are all very meek, timid and submissive. They happily follow all the orders given by the men. There is hardly any hint of the imminent revolt. All this happens at the time of a wedding as it is an important occasion for everybody. All the family members are present for the auspicious occasion. The best thing about this film is that it has many well crafted sequences of family life.