DOCUMENTARY · MAALOULA · 2026
STORY
I didn't come to Maaloula to look for the past. I came to see if the past was still alive.
A documentary about people who still carry the memory of a place: George, who still writes in Aramaic, the women who cook at the Monastery of Mar Sarkis to keep it standing, and Tony in the rock passage. Written and directed by me.
Production
The short film.
A little over two minutes in Maaloula. The social cut of a longer film, with the four stations as I walked them.
The feature is shot. The edit comes later.
Here, you walk through layers of time.
Four stations, one memory.
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01 · GEORGE
George
A researcher and historian, and one of the last people who still write in Aramaic. He doesn't work to become known. He works so the story doesn't die.
"When I'm gone, there won't be anything called Aramaic anymore."George, from the film
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02 · MAR SARKIS
The Monastery of Mar Sarkis
At the monastery, women cook and sell food every single day to keep it standing. With them, Father Fadi. That's where I understood that preserving heritage sometimes begins in a small kitchen.
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03 · THE ROCK PASSAGE
Tony and the rock passage
I walked with Tony, who told me the story of the rock passage. Standing between those cliffs, I could no longer tell whether the place created the story, or the story gave the place its soul.
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04 · AL SAFIR HOTEL
Al Safir Hotel
The final stop. Bullet holes in the walls, and empty shell casings still on the floor. A silent reminder that wars may end, but their scars remain.
Heritage isn't a language. It isn't a building, or an ancient stone.
Heritage is the human being, who chooses to carry the memory of a place and refuses to let it disappear.
I wrote it, directed it, and walked it step by step.
- Camera OperatorMohammad Zantah
- Camera OperatorJawdat Malas
- Creative Visual ArtistMazen Bisani
- Art DirectorMedo Al Moghrabi
- Sound EngineerAhmad Sisi
- Sound AssistantMohammad Faisal
Maaloula, June and July 2026.
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