125 people attended 'Under Pressure: Filmmaking in Syria' on 14 August 2012 at World Cinema Amsterdam, an evening organised by the Prince Claus Fund and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts  in conjunction with the exhibition Culture in Defiance at the Prince Claus Fund Gallery. 

After the screening of 'A Silent Cinema' and 'Hey, Don't Forget the Cumin' a Q&A was conducted by Dana Linsen with the Syrian directors Hala Al Abdallah and Meyar Al Roumi. The filmmakers discussed the challenges of filmmaking in Syria and the difficulties of the current situation.

Short synopis of the films showed:

Sinama Sameta (A Silent Cinema)
Meyar Al Roumi | Syria, France | 2001 | 29' | Arabic spoken | English, French subtitles
Upon graduating from a film studies program in Paris, Meyar Al Roumi returns to his native Damascus, eager to start making films. However when the script he proposes is rejected by the censors, he is instead inspired to make a portrait of Syrian filmmakers who have been affected most by censorship. The film is a courageous short documentary on filmmaking in Syria.

Hey! La Tensi el Kamoun (Hey! Don’t Forget the Cumin) 
Hala Al Abdallah | Syria, France | 2008 | 66' | Arabic, French spoken | English subtitles
The work of Syrian filmmaker Hala Al Abdallah is characterized by her very distinct and experimental approach. In her second documentary she travels through the collective consciousness of three artists/writers: Jamil Hatmal, Sarah Kane and Darina Al Joundi. Jamil and Sarah are not present, they have left the planet. Darina is still there, she keeps resisting. Their tumultuous life stories offer a fascinating outlook on Arab cultural identity. 

Culture in Defiance
Cyber puppet movies, cell-phone cinema, installations and animated cartoons are just a few of the types of films featured in the Prince Claus Fund Gallery’s exhibition, Culture in Defiance about Syria’s creative dissent. The exhibition, which also includes cartoons, popular songs, art, graffiti and political posters, is open to the public for free from Monday through Friday, 10 am – 5 pm, until 23 November (Prince Claus Fund Gallery, Herengracht 603, Amsterdam).