Damascus Film Festival

Despite the proliferation of high-end shopping centers and restaurants in Damascus movie theatres are still absent. The only cinema in town (by Sham Palace) rarely gets Western movies, and usually shows ones from Egypt or Turkey. However, in the past 3 years or so, there has been the Damascus Film Festival – this year held for a week in November, that shows Western films (from the US and Europe) several times a day at several different outlets. It’s really a grab bag of genres, from independent Italian films to movies like “What Happens in Vegas.” Could be a prelude to finally allowing the importation of Western cinema on a regular basis – which would make sense given the increasingly visible presence of every other form of imperialist vice.