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Poster for A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile

A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile

Sign In For Love And Revolution

2015 · 1h 24m Documentary
Directed by Sophie Deraspe

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Overview

There is no indication that this typical online flirtation between two strangers would turn into a case of shocking international intrigue. For months, Sandra in Montreal and Amina, a Syrian-American, bond romantically and intellectually. Encouraged by Sandra, Amina launches a blog called "A Gay Girl in Damascus," representing a marginalized voice in the Middle East on politics, religion, and sexuality. Rapidly garnering worldwide attention, Amina becomes something of a star blogger. But when Syria enters the Arab uprising of 2011, Sandra receives word that Amina has been kidnapped, and soon the search for Amina becomes a global concern and an even larger mystery to solve.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Rotten

The film tries too hard to sensationalize a real-life story that has already been sensationalized enough - the kind that's too strange for fiction - but in doing so undermines the narrative's own weirdness.

Tina Hassannia, Globe and Mail
Fresh

The film is reminiscent of Catfish in its essential circumstances of love and online deception, but it goes far deeper into how virtual lies cause tangible problems.

Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Fresh

Even those who followed Amina's rise and fall in the ultimately chastened media will find Gay Girl a nifty piece of detective work.

Mark Jenkins, NPR
Fresh

Sophie Deraspe's film is a compelling anatomy of an Internet hoax - one that grabbed headlines amid the revolutionary fervor of the Arab Spring.

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times
Fresh

Even knowing what I knew (or thought I knew) before seeing "A Gay Girl in Damascus," it's full of surprises.

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

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