The Day I Lost My Shadow

The year is 2012, right at the beginning of the Syrian war. Director Soudade Kaadan’s feature film debut revolves around a simple plot: Sana (Sawsan Ercheid), a young mother, tries to create a normal life for her son despite the growing unrest in the country. But power outage and lack of water and gas makes it harder by the day to maintain a normal life. The situation gets even worse when the military confiscate all new supplies of propane. Sana sets out on a dangerous journey, together with the siblings Reem (Reham Al Kassar) and Jalal (Samer Ismael), hoping to get hold on propane in the neighbouring town. The journey quickly becomes hazardous when the three of them are stranded at the outskirts of Damascus without the means to get home.

Kaadan has previously produced several documentaries about refugees but here makes a bold leap into the world of fiction. The Day I Lost My Shadow is a different film about the war in Syria, which focuses on the inner life of the characters instead of the major political consequences of the conflict.

Soudade Kaadan is a Syrian director, born in France. She was educated in theater in Syria and went to film school in Lebanon. Kaadan has produced several documentaries for Al Jazeera and UNICEF among others. The Day I Lost My Shadow is her feature film debut, and it has been screened at film festivals worldwide, among them Venice and Toronto. Her most recent film Aziza won the jury prize for best short film at the Sundance Film Festival in January.