Hands Off, Eyes On

by Donatella Della Ratta, R. Alessandro Turchioe, and Sofia Busquets

This video essay is a meditation on memory, politics, and the unsettling persistence of images. Through the recurring presence of a simple yet charged phrase ‘Hands off Syria’, on a wall in Locarno, Switzerland,  we trace the trajectory of a revolution, a war, and the lives entangled in both. The wall, an unyielding witness, becomes a silent antagonist, reflecting the contradictions of cinema’s power: to document, to amplify, yet also to commodify and betray.

Originally, ‘Hands off Syria’ was a slogan opposing foreign intervention aimed at regime change used by pro-regime protesters in Syria. Over time, however, the slogan’s original meaning blurred, becoming a spectral presence – detached from its origins yet still echoing in new contexts. The video plays with these shifting temporalities, exploring how media texts can be repurposed, misinterpreted, and ultimately estranged from the history they once belonged to.

As Syrian filmmakers risked everything to record history, their images have travelled in international venues, such as the Locarno International Film Festival, while they have remained trapped – sometimes in exile, sometimes in prison, sometimes buried in unmarked graves. Meanwhile, the world watches, applauds, and eventually forgets. The act of looking is not neutral. Neither is the act of turning away.

This work is a meditation on the weight of images, the burden of storytelling, and the limits of cinema in the face of unfolding violence. It is an elegy for those who filmed, fought, and fell, and for the images that survive them – pixelated, shaky, undeniable.

Hands Off, Eyes On incorporates images of the Arab Spring in Syria from archival footage shot by Bassel Khartabil, also known as Safadi, a prominent Syrian activist and computer programmer who was murdered by the Syrian regime.

Authors

Donatella Della Ratta is Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at John Cabot University, Rome. She is a former affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. In addition to her widely-published scholarly work in Italian and English, from 2007 to 2013 Donatella served as Regional Manager for the Middle East at the Silicon Valley-based international organisation Creative Commons. She is the co-founder of SyriaUntold.com, recipient of the Digital Communities Award at Ars Electronica 2014. She has curated numerous art and film programs, including Syria Off Frame, in collaboration with Luciano Benetton and the Imago Mundi Foundation, Venice, 2015. Her research on generative AI and contemporary warfare earned her the prestigious Italian Council Award 2024-25 from the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Alessandro Turchioe is an independent filmmaker whose work blends American urban influences with European artistic traditions. He has collaborated on several projects with writer and academic Donatella Della Ratta. Their latest project, Call Me When You Get There, is a three-act video essay series that explores the ethical implications of artificial intelligence through the use of archival material, newly-shot footage, and AI-generated visuals. The series premiered its first act at the Cinema Futures symposium hosted by Locarno Film Festival. Their collaborative portfolio includes Who Wants to Live and Die Forever, which earned Best Editing at the FICIMAD Madrid Independent Film Festival in 2021.

Sofia Busquets studied film in Rome and completed a Master’s in documentary filmmaking in Madrid, where she directed The Next Act (2025) as her thesis project. Her academic background also includes studies in philosophy of art and modern and contemporary philosophy. Between 2019 and 2023, Busquets worked in music supervision for series and films on Netflix, Star Plus, and Prime Video. She directed the short films Caudal (2021) and Moirai (2023), and was director of photography for the comedy Il Migliore, or The Best of Them All (2023).