The Amina Profile (Sophie Deraspe). 84 minutes. Opens Friday (August 21). Rating: NNNN
Sophie Deraspe’s taut doc begins with a hot online affair between Montrealer Sandra Bagaria and the mysterious Amina, author of the online blog Gay Girl In Damascus, an online property that blows up and becomes an international sensation thanks to a story in the Guardian.
Amina may not be a politically courageous activist, and how that came to be discovered is fascinating. But what the story says about the degradation of journalism in the internet age is even more important.
An edgy soundtrack and terrifying footage of the Syrian uprising give the film tension, but those images of the Syrian streets make clear what’s really at stake and how questionable blogging practices get in the way of crucial political change.
The erotic content thrown in as Bagaria’s desire intensifies borders on cheesy, and a final encounter between her and the real Amina fails to deliver the punch it should, but this is still a great story told with panache. Some subtitles.
