DONGA
Genre
Documentary
Running time
90 minutes
Year
2023
Language
Arabic
Subtitle
English
Country
Libya
Director
Muhannad Lamin
Bio
Producer
Ali Sabty, Muhannad Lamin
Cast
Mohammed Mahjoub
Scriptwriter
Muhannad Lamin
At the age of 19, Mohammed – known as Donga – plunges into the midst of the 2011 Libya uprising armed only with his camera. Growing up under a dictatorship where the only permitted history was an ongoing story of Colonel Gaddafi’s glory, he was determined to record everything he saw: the protests, the war on ISIS, and the civil war in 2019, where Haftar troops attacked the capital.
He captures everyday survival, moments of humor, and community. Starting out charged with adrenalin, Donga is inevitably changed by what he experiences, including a mortar strike where almost everyone else dies. This is an intensely personal journey where we see the world through the character’s eyes, illustrating the collective disillusionment with the outcome of the 2011 uprising, which brought the country no peace. Despite everything, Donga is not despairing: “We believe in change!”
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