Jumaa Marzouk

A short documentary film that relates the story of a man, his wife and four children in their home which, like all others in the town of Douma, was not spared from the bombings since the beginning of the uprising in 2011. The man acquired a reputation as the “neighborhood madman” because of his hobby of collecting missile shells. From these empty shells, he began to create works of art and toys for children, and eventually a local amusement park. He became a manufacturer of happiness. Abu Ali, as the man is called, originally got the inspiration from a child he came across, one day, sitting on a still undetonated missile. The idea evolved into a project for turning the missiles of certain death sent from the “Jasmine capital”, Damascus, into a source of hope to sustain the children and families of the besieged town of Douma.