Darayya Building Demolished as Part of Film Project

In the spring of 2023, a building in Darayya in Rural Damascus, was rigged with explosives and demolished during the filming of scenes for an artistic project directed by Syrian film director Najdat Ismail Anzour. The building, which had five floors, was built in 2010 and was permitted within the city’s zoning plans. It was situated in the zoned and licensed residential area of Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya, near the Al-Samah bin Malik Al-Khaulani Mosque.

Mr Anzour, who was also a member of the Syrian parliament representing Aleppo governorate from 2016 to 2020, served as acting speaker of the parliament for a period in 2017. He has contributed to presenting the Syrian regime’s narrative through a large collection of films and dramas.

Darayya witnessed peaceful anti-regime protests starting in early 2011. In 2012, the city fell under the control of armed opposition forces. Due to its proximity to the Mazzeh military airport, Darayya was subjected to a severe siege by regime forces and intense bombing campaigns, which culminated in 2016 with the forced displacement of all its residents and the destruction of large parts of the city. Subsequently, the Fourth Armoured Division, which controls the city, allowed partial and conditional return of residents with prior security approval.

Although the opposition had seized the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area during their control of Darayya, the area remained largely intact. This was partly due to its distance from the front lines and its modern architectural design, built according to Syrian Arab Building Code and safety standards. Despite not being destroyed, all the residences in this area now require rehabilitation and removal of rubble due to neglect, limited clashes, and looting following the regime forces’ recapture of the city.

A correspondent for The Syria Report stated that the building was hit by a mortar shell early in the regime’s military campaign, causing minor damage to its facade. Apart from that, the building sustained no significant damage during the war, according to testimonies from former fighters who were stationed in the area. However, aerial images from Google Maps now show a gap in the area where the building once stood, indicating the rubble from the building that was demolished by Mr Anzour.

According to the correspondent, the production and public relations managers for the film submitted images of the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area to Rural Damascus governorate, showing existing damage to obtain permission to use the area as a filming location. During the filming, the five-storey building was blown up and reduced to rubble. The Syria Report’s correspondent could not confirm if the demolition was authorised by the governorate or which military entity carried it out.

Mahmoud, a displaced person now living in rural Idlib, owned an apartment in the building. He bought it at the end of 2010 for nearly SYP 1 million (around USD 20,000 at the time) and has a notarised sale contract. Mahmoud could not transfer the apartment ownership to his name in the Land Record due to the outbreak of the 2011 uprising, Darayya falling out of regime control, and the subsequent disruption of official institutions.

In 2020, Mahmoud tried to sell his apartment, but the offers he received were not encouraging. He decided to wait, hoping to renovate the apartment and sell it at a better price. However, the complete destruction of the building in 2023, which Mahmoud heard about from relatives still in Darayya, dashed his hopes.

Mr Anzour previously filmed scenes for his series “Under the Sky of the Homeland” in areas near the front lines in Darayya in the spring of 2013 while the opposition controlled it. In 2019, he also filmed scenes for his short film “Jouri” in Darayya’s destroyed and deserted neighbourhoods.

During the filming of his series “Moons in a Dark Night” in 2021, the crew chose locations in the cities of Kafr Zita and Al-Lataminah in northern Hama, and Khan Sheikhoun in southern Idlib, as filming sites. They enlisted the help of forces from the 25th Special Mission Forces Division, led by Brigadier General Suheil Al-Hassan, nicknamed “The Tiger.” During the filming of the series, live ammunition was used to shell homes that had been empty since 2019 due to the forced displacement of their inhabitants.

However, the first time Mr Anzour resorted to demolishing an intact multi-storey building for filming scenes was in the spring of 2023, when the building in the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area of Darayya was blown up. The Syria Report’s correspondent was unable to determine the name of the film or series that included scenes of the building’s demolition. Mr Anzour’s most recent work was the film “The Broken Cross,” which was released in cinemas in August 2023 and is a documentary about the displacement of Christians from Idlib by the Turkistan Islamic Party.

According to testimonies obtained by The Syria Report, none of the apartment owners or the original owner of the building received any compensation for its demolition. The original owner of the demolished building managed to extract some of the iron from the rubble and sold it to a local building materials trader. At the end of 2023, the original building owner distributed symbolic amounts of money to some of the apartment owners, with some receiving up to SYP 1.5 million (approximately USD 115).