‘Testahbis’ is a feature documentary exploring the long-term impact of arbitrary detention and torture in Syria after the 2011 uprising. Shaped by the voices of men and women who endured detention, their testimonies form a collective portrait of endurance, exile and the weight of memory that persists long after release. The film also follows the first month after Syria’s liberation, when prisons and detention facilities, once forbidden to outsiders, suddenly became accessible. Within these spaces, ‘Testahbis’ meets families still searching for loved ones who vanished into the regime’s machinery of repression, revealing both the depth of personal loss and the collective scars carried by survivors and their communities. Visually, the film interlaces survivor testimonies and abandoned detention cells. These fragments situate individual stories within wider landscapes of absence and ruin, reflecting the stark contrasts of freedom and oppression. Sound becomes a central narrative force. Through layered silence, echoes, and distortion, the film creates an immersive sonic space that conveys trauma more powerfully than words. Rather than simply recounting pain, it evokes its haunting presence, drawing audiences into the survivors’ inner worlds. Ultimately, ‘Testahbis’ is not only a film about detention, but also about memory and exile. It traces the last memories of a “peaceful Syria” while confronting the struggle of carrying one’s past into an uncertain future.