Al Basateen

The Orchards

Forum Expanded 2025

In 2015, the Basateen al-Razi district of Damascus was razed to the ground as punishment for the population’s uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. This area is set to be replaced by Marota City, a modern and connected district featuring 80 skyscrapers. Ten years later, having lost everything, two former residents reflect on their neighborhood, where their homes and the oldest orchards in Damascus once stood. Through their testimonies and the repurposing of regime-produced 3D animations, memory is awakened and resists this deliberate erasure.

by Antoine Chapon (Director, Screenplay) France 2025 Arabic 23' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	Antoine Chapon
Screenplay	Antoine Chapon
Cinematography	Juliette Barrat
Editing	Laura Ríus Arán, Antoine Chapon
Music	Hareth Mhedi
Sound Design	Ryo Baldet
Animation	Antoine Chapon
Producers	Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff
Executive Producers	Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff

World Sales

Square Eyes

Produced by

Petit Chaos

Photos

Antoine Chapon

Antoine Chapon is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. His work creates hybrid forms using cinema, CGI animation, and archives. His first short film My Own Landscapes (2020) premiered in Visions du Reel where it won the Best Short Film Award. It was then selected in more than 40 festivals, such as Sundance, Telluride, Palm Springs, Sarajevo, and Premiers Plans. His work has been showcased at ZKM|Karlsruhe, Centre Pompidou, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Singapore Art Museum. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and is currently writing his first feature-length documentary.

Filmography

2020 My Own Landscapes 2025 Al Basateen

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025