Michigan Arts & Culture

New doc about “Syrian Gandhi” was smuggled out on thumb drives

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff

Published September 28, 2016 at 5:32 PM EDT

Ghiyath Matar, who handed out water bottles and roses to security forces, was known as "the Gandhi of Syria."

Our conversation with filmmaker Sam Kadi.

For most of us, our view of the bloody civil war in Syria is limited to snippets of video seen on network or cable news.

But a new documentary film gives us a staggering inside view of the Syrian Revolution.

Little Gandhi tells the tragic story of Ghiyath Matar, a Syrian peace activist whose peaceful approach to government security forces ended with his torture and death at the age of 26.

Sam Kadi is the Syrian-born director and producer of Little Gandhi. He now makes his home in Michigan. Stateside sat down with Kadi to learn more about the film and its making.

The story is indeed tragic. Matar, who was known for handing out bottles of water and white roses to Syrian security forces, was ultimately tortured and killed by the Syrian government.

“The … government would rather you arm yourself then carry a bottle of water and a rose,” Kadi said. “They know how much that will impact the international community, the media and the press.”

For more about the film, listen above.

Little Gandhi will have its Michigan premiere Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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