Watch A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile

A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile is a 2015 documentary film that tells the story of Amina Arraf, a Syrian-American blogger who gained widespread attention during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011. The film, directed by Sophie Deraspe, is structured as a mystery, following the efforts of a group of online activists to track down the real person behind the popular blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus."

The film begins with the online discovery of Amina's blog and the subsequent attention it received from both the press and the LGBTQ+ community around the world. Sandra Bagaria, a young woman from Montreal, becomes romantically involved with Amina via email, Skype, and social media. As the Arab Spring unfolds and the Syrian government begins cracking down on protesters and activists, Amina suddenly disappears. Bagaria takes it upon herself to investigate Amina's disappearance, and the film takes us along on that journey.

The film combines interviews with key players in the story, including Bagaria, Amina's supposed cousin, and the online activists who worked to uncover the truth, with footage from the protests in Syria and archives of Amina's blog and social media posts. As the investigation unfolds, the film raises important questions about identity, activism, and the power and limitations of online communication.

One of the key themes of the film is the tension between the online and offline worlds. Amina's blog gained a huge following precisely because it offered a window into the lives and struggles of LGBTQ+ Syrians at a time when the Arab Spring was bringing hope for change to the region. But as the film delves deeper, it becomes clear that there were many contradictions and inconsistencies in Amina's story. The activists who worked to find her began to realize that they were dealing with a complex web of online personas, with no easy way to verify who was behind them.

The film is also a fascinating look at the power of online activism. The search for Amina became a cause célèbre for many LGBTQ+ activists, who saw her as a symbol of hope and change for a community that had long been marginalized in Syria. The film raises important questions about the role of activism in the digital age, and whether the online world can truly effect substantive change in the face of oppressive regimes.

At its heart, A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile is a story about the search for identity and the power of storytelling. Amina's blog gained such a broad following precisely because it offered a glimpse into the life of a gay Syrian woman under a repressive regime. But as the film unfolds, we come to see that the story Amina told was not necessarily the truth. The film ends on a note of uncertainty, with Bagaria questioning the reliability of the information they had uncovered and the motivations of those who had helped her.

Overall, A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile is a captivating and thought-provoking film that sheds light on the complexities of activism, identity, and the power of online communication. The film's structure, which unfolds like a mystery, keeps us engaged throughout, while its themes are timely and relevant. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the intersection of the digital and the political in the Middle East.

A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile is a 2015 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 24 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.0 and a MetaScore of 69.