Film Review: NO SIGNAL (Spain) Experimental Documentary

Played at the November 2016 Best of Short Documentary FEEDBACK Film Festival.

NO SIGNAL, 1min., Spain, Documentary
Directed by Alaa Chnana

From all the acts of the present, the one can affect the past as well as the future is the war.

REVIEW by Kierston Drier:

No Signal a riveting, stylized look at the crisis of war in Syria, is a study in interpretation. It it s a film that highlights the very raw, very gritty ravages of war against, and the highlight reel of pain engraved upon the memories of the people it affects.

The open, expressionless faces of Syrian refugees of young, old, large and small are superimposed on lightning-fast intercuts of media images of war and destruction. The effect of this stylized work is powerful and thought-provoking, begging the audience to question if we are looking at a human beings’ memories, or if we are looking at the war through the media that is used to describe their lives.

Ultimately, No Signal expresses the idea that we are really only ever scratching the surface of what is affected by war and political conflict. So often the rapid fire images we are bombarded with through the media dehumanize the suffering faced by real people every day.

No Signal brings us back to this humanity, by showing us these media images against the backdrop of human beings we do not know- yet we certainly recognize.

Technically speaking, the editing of No Signal must be highly commended. The sheer volume of media images that are used are superbly intercut and seamlessly tailored together. No Signal has a simple approach to storytelling that is effective and powerful, and for that, it is a film worth seeing.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK VIDEO of the Short Film: