"Alephia 2053", an Arabic-language animated feature set in a bleak future, has struck a chord in a region all too familiar with autocratic rule and bold, bloody resistance. Released on YouTube on March 21, a decade after the Arab Spring uprisings, the Lebanese-made thriller has already garnered more than eight million views. Creator and co-producer Rabi Sweidan says that in a region obsessed with a nostalgic past, the idea for the feature came after asking the question: "what will the Arab world look like in the future?".