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The movie "The Windows of the Soul" is being premiered for the first time at the "Baytna" organization venue in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Monday, 28 March, after three and a half years of filming in the city of Aleppo.
The film conveys its stories with a humane touch, portraying the experiences lived by the team at "Dar Al-Shifa" hospital from its establishment until its bombardment and destruction. It was a field hospital founded in Aleppo after its liberation.
The Hospital's Filming Journey
The journalist and photographer Saif Azzam began filming the movie in July 2012 as a form of documentation for the events at the hospital. He says, "When I started filming, the idea of the movie didn't come to mind. I was capturing the daily life the hospital staff went through for documentation. I published a part of it and kept the rest with the intention of utilizing it later."

The film delves into the lesser-known aspects overlooked by modern media behind the scenes of violence and tragedy in the most dangerous city in the world. Azzam adds in conversation with Enab Baladi, "What distinguished the film is that it didn't focus on the regime's crimes or its targeting of hospitals, as this has been extensively covered in the media. Instead, it portrayed the human aspect that people don't see in the daily lives experienced by the hospital workers."
"The Sweetest Days of the Revolution and Its Sincerest"
The film delves into a phase of the revolution considered by activists as "the sweetest days of the revolution and its sincerest," as Azam puts it, explaining, "Dar Al-Shifa Hospital wasn't just an ordinary hospital, and I didn't want its memory from the revolution era to fade away, to become mere fleeting clips on YouTube that fade into oblivion."
"I wanted to immortalize the memory of the hospital that brought together a diverse mix of people from different regions, dialects, and cultures," says Azam, pointing to another dimension that the film breaks into, shattering the conventions of acting. "The film's protagonists speak for themselves about their lives, emotions, and the moments they experienced. The genuine footage in the film, devoid of pretense, highlights the depth of their attachment, fear, and longing for each other."
The hospital was founded by a medical team that previously worked in government-controlled areas before the Syrian revolution turned toward military actions. Doctor Osman Al-Haj Othman supervised most Aleppo activists' training on first aid techniques.
He and his colleagues chose the location for the hospital in the Shaar neighborhood after it was liberated. However, it suffered repeated bombardment, resulting in extensive damage and its closure in a bombing on 21 July 2012. The footage captured within it was preserved until the idea for the film crystallized a year and two months prior, with the photographer, Saif Azam, and the director, Feras Dibeh.
The Hospital Is Full of Sad and Happy Stories
"When we started preparing for the film, we reviewed the old footage from inside the hospital in all its details, collected archives from the staff, then spent six months studying the script and making many modifications," says journalist Faras Dibeh, who has been working in journalism since 2001 and ventured into television directing two years ago.
For Dibeh, "The hospital's events provided rich material with its mix of sorrowful and joyful tales, including stories of love, marriage, bombings, martyrdom, arrest, displacement, and migration... We couldn't cover all the characters, so we had to focus on some stories."
The filming locations were all natural without any artificial set designs, even the scenes captured after the hospital was destroyed, according to Dibeh. He clarified, "We added filming scenes with the film's protagonists in the past two summers and autumns. They told us about the continuation of their lives after the hospital, in their homes, neighborhoods, and with their cars."
The director asked the poet Bakri Hanifa to write three songs for the film, one of which speaks about the "Windows of the Soul" in Aleppo. Dibeh suggested this term as the film's title as he considers each character "a window to the soul of the revolution."
Movie Characters
Martyr Bushra Sheikho
She was a volunteer nurse who held her wedding in the hospital and was killed there due to shelling just two weeks after her wedding. However, she remained present in the film through others' discussions about her.
Activist Ahed Festok
She was the primary link between the characters, being a social figure who experienced nearly every stage of the work.
Zain Al-Abdullah
She was among the first volunteers at the hospital. She lived with Ahed and was arrested at a regime checkpoint because of her work. She was released after a year and two months.
Abu Al-Baraa (Turki Al-Hammadi) and his wife Amina
They met at the hospital and got married there. They still take a picture together in front of its ruins every year on their wedding anniversary.
Hassan Fattouh
He was a chanter, nurse, and the muezzin of the hospital.