Raqqa, a city in northern Syria on the banks of the Euphrates, and a self-proclaimed former capital of the Islamic State, bears the marks of the occupation of Daesh at every street corner. Everything has been destroyed and everything needs to be rebuilt. Its young mayor Leila Mustapha fights to bring back life to her city and establish a democracy there.
Director Xavier de Lauzanne went to meet her in the company of a French journalist and writer, Marine de Tilly, who came to Raqqa for nine days in order to write her story. The documentary 9 days in Raqqa, which tells this story, paints a portrait of this courageous woman. Selected at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the film is in theaters Wednesday, September 8.
Leila Mustapha is at the heart of the documentary. Its division into nine days allows the mayor to open up gradually. Little by little we enter into her privacy: we follow her first to her workplace and into the city, then in the evening on the bed, in her room, where the interviews take place. Another moment of proximity, the meeting with Leila’s parents, who take us to the grave of one of her close friends.
A civil engineer, Leila Mustapha was appointed co-chair of the Raqqa Civil Council just after the liberation of the city. One of the rare women in this world of men, she knows how to make herself heard and seems to inspire respect and confidence. An exceptional thing given the condition of women in Raqqa under the regime of the Islamic State. Skillfully, the documentary highlights this historical context, interspersed with clips from TV news broadcasts and other videos of major events in recent years.
Through the portrait of Leila Mustapha, it is also that of Raqqa that is revealed. A city in ruins where everything needs to be rebuilt, her hometown for which she fights nonstop. 9 days in Raqqa is a song of pain, carried by the music of Ibrahim Maalouf, composed for the film, which accompanies the images of the city, like a lament. But the documentary also delivers a message of hope and optimism with Leila Mustapha, who shows us both the extent of the worksites and the reconstruction in progress, aided in this by the beautiful shots by photographer Jean-Matthieu Gautier.
Genre : Documentary
Director : Xavier de Lauzanne
With : Leila Mustapha, Marine de Tilly, Gulistan Sido
Country : France
Duration : 89 minutes
Release : September 8, 2021
Distributor : Aloest Movies and Echo Studio
Synopsis : Leila Mustapha, 30, civil engineer, three times valedictorian of her class, is the young mayor of Raqqa, the former self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State in Syria. Immersed in a world of men, her mission is to rebuild her city in ruins after the war, to reconcile and to establish democracy there. An extraordinary mission. A French writer crosses Iraq and Syria to meet her. In this still dangerous city, she has 9 days to live with Leila and discover her story.