Educational Media Reviews Online

Two college students, Hamid and Tarek, leave Canada and return to their native Libya to join the uprising against Gaddafi. This film follows them through what became a months-long civil war, to the personal aftermath for each of them.

Seeing Libya’s revolution through Hamid and Tarek’s experience makes the Arab Spring uniquely accessible to Western audiences. Hamid and Tarek leave college dorms in Canada, usually speak in English (there are subtitles throughout), arrive as outsiders, and even have some trouble getting around for lack of contacts. Like most of the rebels, they have no military experience. They have no special qualifications, other than being Libyan and hating the tyrant who has oppressed their friends and families for decades.

It’s an emotional, fascinating, impactful film. It’s a story of young men having the time of their lives liberating their country. It’s also the story of amateurs getting injured and killed—some of the footage is pretty graphic, though never gratuitous. It’s a very personal, revealing look at the Arab Spring, unmediated yet coherent.