Sundance Review: We Are the Giant

Score:A

Director:Greg Barker

Cast:Various

Running Time:90 Minutes

Rated:NR

We Are the Giant is part of the peaceful revolution uprising that is taking place in the Arab Spring. Not since Restrepo have I been so emotionally shaken by the power of guerilla-style documentary film making.

What is the price of freedom? Is it worth dying for? For the peaceful activists fighting for their personal freedom under a communist regime in Bahrain, Syria and Lybia, they will die trying if it means that one day the Bahraini, Syrian, and Libyan people will live in a country that is not self-imploding. Until this time, peaceful activists continue their trek towards freedom and self-expression.  The film is packaged well with a very pressing issue about the ongoing wars in the Middle East and the toll it takes on the human condition.  Barker follows a group of people that are leaders in the uprising against their respected governments. Maryam and Zainab al-Khawaja are the spotlight here, documenting their struggle for freedom, going on hunger strike, non-violent protests, even as far as constantly being in the line of fire.

This form of protest is very similar to past struggles that include black rights, women's rights and gay marriage. This documentary has no answers; instead it is almost like a cry for help, a soapbox of sorts for those that barely have a voice to be heard in the first place. Change can happen if people join and get behind a movement to overcome the seemingly impossible.

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About Matt Kerwin

Matt Kerwin

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