A Plate of Sardines is a Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n documentary film by the director Omar Amiralay

Omar Amiralay

Omar Amiralay was a Syrian documentary film director and prominent civil society activist. He is noted for the strong political criticism in his films and played a prominent role in the events of the Damascus Spring of 2000....

. This short documentary tells Amiralay's own story about how he first heard of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. In his own words, "The first time I heard of Israel, it was in Beirut, talking about a sardine dish. I was 6 years old, Israel was 2." The film records Amiralay's filmmaker friend Mohamed Malas

Mohamed Malas

Mohammad Malas is a prominent Syrian filmmaker. He graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1974.-Selected cinematography:* A Dream of a Small City * Quneitra 74 * Ahlam al-Madina...

 own reflections on his own native city of Quneitra

Quneitra

Quneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an elevation of 1,010 metres above sea level...

 before and after the Israeli-occupation and later liberation of the city. All the while strolling around the ruins of what's left of Quneitra

Quneitra

Quneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an elevation of 1,010 metres above sea level...

.