#chicagoGirl - The Social Network Takes on a Dictator

Nineteen-year-old Ala’a Basatneh ought to have the same preoccupations as her American peers: school, relationships, clothes, music. But this Chicago student doesn’t have time for any of that; she’s too busy organising a revolution in Syria. From her laptop she helps coordinate protests, shares photos and videos, and informs demonstrators about current events. Meanwhile her friends are in the thick of the action in a country where civil war has been raging for three years. Bassel, Aous and Omar document the crimes of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Of course they are fighting, too, but instead of guns their weapons are cameras, mobile phones and the Internet. The film tracks the efforts and courage of these young people and uncovers the phenomenon of social networks, which have become a key driver of the Arab Spring.