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Ironically, Fathi's steadfast embrace of humor and love prove the most effective in his fight to protect his humanity.Īcclaimed author Nihad Sirees penned The Silence and the Roar in 2004 during a period of 'internal exile' when he and several other intellectuals were banned from public cultural life in Syria.

But Fathi's inner yearnings run counter to the repressive agenda of the regime and he finds himself at the center of the psychological struggle of his life.

The heat is oppressive, loudspeakers blare with an endless cacophony of chants extoling the reigning despot, and a monolithic mass takes to the streets to demonstrate their allegiance to the ruling party. On this day, when the entire country has mobilized to celebrate the twenty-year anniversary of 'the Leader', tensions come to a head. Banned from publishing after his refusal to write propaganda for the ruling party, Fathi becomes a target of ever increasing physical and mental abuse. With a Kafkaesque sense of the absurd, it spins a timely tale that catapults the strangeness of tyranny and the toll of dictatorship on individual freedom into sharp focus.Ī mix of wisdom, humor, and heartbreaking story-telling, The Silence and the Roar follows a day in the life of 31 year-old writer and well-known public figure, Fathi Sheen. Set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country resembling Syria, The Silence and the Roar is equal parts parable, political satire, and love story.