Step by Step by Oussama Mohammad (b/w documentary film transferred to DVD )
Syria
22 min | 1979
The Film
Oussama Mohammad's short film follows the stages of submission one has to pass through in society, and the transformation of the individual mindset from unmediated co-existence with nature towards an acceptance of violence towards those dearest to oneself. By filming the daily efforts of village people and the very basic education system, the film portrays young villagers whose choice is either their parents' hard farming life or that of a migrant laborer in the city. Trapped between religious and political ideologies and completely fascinated by authority, these young peasants choose the army.The Filmmaker
Oussama Mohammad (born 1954, lives in Rotterdam and Damascus) is a director and scriptwriter who studied film at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. His films are concerned with power structures and their effects on individual identity. As the smallest organizational structure of the state, the family group propagates social order and thereby maintains its traditions.Selected filmography: Today Everyday (Al Yawm Kol Yaom) (1980), Stars in Broad Daylight (Nujum al-Nahar) (1988), and Sacrifices (Sunduq ad-Dunya) (2002).
