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Logline

Displaced to Lebanon, a group of Syrian teenagers found hope in robotics. Now, with the fall of Assad, the young engineers begin returning home, eager to build their futures. But life in Syria is harder than anticipated. What does it take to repair a destroyed nation?

Synopsis

Along the Syrian border in Lebanon, a teenage robotics team is tucked away in a refugee community center. They are building a robot for the world’s largest olympic style robotics competition; this year it’s in Panama City. Representing refugees and not a country, Team Hope are two time world champions. They are going for gold again. What does it take to win? During the competition Aya, Leen, Jad and Mohammad develop a friendship with Team Syria. Under the Assad regime, sharing their experiences and hopes for the future could risk them their lives. But now, the younger generations of Syrians can use their voices. After the championship, Jad and Leen remain in Bekaa, but Mohammad and Aya return to Syria: a community in flux. With neighbourhoods in Syria reduced to dust and opportunities slim, their transition back to their homeland is difficult. How will those that never left Syria and those that are returning forge a new collective narrative and future for themselves and their community? In destroyed Eastern Ghouta, a new community center is being built; the young engineers will soon have a space to do what they love most, together. Can robotics repair a destroyed nation?
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Dr. Natalie Garland — Co-Director/Producer
Natalie is an anthropologist experimenting with craft and film as impactful tools for capturing overlooked narratives of dispossession. Her doctoral project (2021-2025) entitled, The Everyday Burden of Dignity: An Exploration of Syrian Refugeehood in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, integrated ethnographic, participatory and visual methodological tools to reconceptualize dignity as an everyday endeavor of continuous preservation. During this time, Natalie also founded LAMSA, a community-based crochet brand comprised of 10 Syrian artisans displaced in the Bekaa. Through observing the intangible and mundane particularities of everyday life, combined with a passion for action, social justice, and the arts, Natalie is developing a new caring, creative and multifaceted approach to anthropological research in precarious contexts.

David Gösta Dawson — Co-Director/DP
David Gösta Dawson is a director, DP and editor documenting artists and communities through an intimate, collaborative lens. He has worked on various short films on underground subcultures such as the Grime music scene in London, and directed Kolektiv (2021) which explored artist collectives across Belgrade, Serbia. The film premiered at Beldocs (Belgrade), Le Bal (Paris), and Berzakh (Beirut). He later developed an expertise in community-based research, studying Urban Policy at the Bartlett school of Planning. David continues to document local artists and communities across the UK and Lebanon, refining his artistic and collaborative approach.

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Contact

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