(DOUNIA & LA PRINCESSE D'ALEP)
DOUNIA AND THE PRINCESS OF ALEPPO
Animation | Running Time: 72 minutes
2022 / French
Country: Canada
Directed by: Marya Zarif, André Kadi
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She is experienced in multiplatform design, screenplay writing and direction, and fifteen years with content aimed for young audiences. She studied communications and drama writing, and holds a degree from the National Institute of Image and Sound (L’INIS). Born in Syria, the current tragedy has pushed her into active commitment.
Based in Canada, he is a graphic novel author. Head of the artistic department at Frima Animation Studios, he opened a 2D animation studio in 2012, where he made the series “MaXi and Agent Jean”, before co-founding Du Coup Animation in 2018, then Du Coup Production in 2021.
ProducerJudith Beauregard
CastRahaf Ataya, Elsa Mardorissian, Manuel Tadros, Raïa Haidar, Marya Zarif, Naïm Jeanbart, Mustapha Aramis, Houssam Ataya, Irland Côté
ScriptwriterMarya Zarif
Six-year-old Dounia (brightly voiced by Rachaf Ataya) is forced to leave her home in Aleppo after her father is taken away in the middle of the night. Together with her kindly, cultured grandparents and the guiding spirit of the Princess of Aleppo - a character conjured by her father in his stories about her mother, Leyla, who died when Dounia was too young to remember her – she sets off into exile. Based on a graphic novel by Marya Zarif, who co-directs here, this enchanting animation embeds the hard facts of the refugee experience inside a feast of fantasy, drawn from Syrian tradition and embellished with oud and flute music. Zarif’s simple but decorative drawings that are immediately accessible to children will also delight many adults. Most of all, no matter how bleak the family’s circumstances, their story is infused with Dounia’s own infectious optimism.