Syrian director, `Umar Amiralay

I did not write about the passing of Syrian director, `Umar Amiralayy.  Why? Because I don't know much about his work.  I only watched his documentary about Rafiq Hariri: and it was a cheap piece of hagiographic propaganda.  It made me form an unfavorable opinion of him.  I saw him in interviews: he came across as thoughtful and charismatic with a beautiful use of Arabic.  I never knew him: I saw him once in Rawdah Cafe in Beirut: he smiled and greeted me politely.  I nodded and continued to sip my cold beverage.  (Quality of Rawdah cafe has gone down).