Sirens

Exceptional filmmaking and wonderfully human stories portrayed in settings so authentic that it feels like a stroke of destiny for cameras to be present in the moment. A heart-wrenching yearning for freedom of love and music, amidst political and social chaos and intolerance.

There are moments where the camera captures silent expressions that say so much and reveal the inner struggles of the real-life characters living in a world that is not made for them. These five women somehow persist and seem impervious to the devastation around them, including the horrific explosion in Beirut in 2020. The director Rita Baghdadi never plays the female power card, their strength is simply present in every shot, regardless of what they are going through. But what stands out the most is the emotional tension between the two band leads, so authentic and palpable, unmatched by the best of fictionalized accounts of conflicted love and friendship.

Easily the best documentary of 2022.