The others (Aramean strolls), Syria, 2020
The story is set between 2003 and 2007, just before the massive spread of a devastating war. The inhabitants of Maaloula, a small village north of Damascus, Christians – in the majority – and Muslims, are among the last speakers of the language supposed to be the one of Christ. They call themselves Aramaic. As war and religious clashes rage around them, Maaloula maintains a peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, each ensuring that the ancient bond is not broken. This in a country where the political police ensure harmony.
As much as the persistence and the role of a language, during three trips, the authors wonder about this effort of the two communities, in a village without any obvious clashes, on the heights of which reigns a strange Virgin made of resin. They also question their own representations. During three journeys, from spring to winter, whether nothing happens or the village is in festive turmoil, they meet the inhabitants and wander through the alleys, until they slip into fiction and a use of color.
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