Last Men In Aleppo

When Khaled looks up, he sees a plane fly over. That’s not a good sign, since the plane is about to drop a barrel bomb on Aleppo and Khaled will be called upon to remove victims from underneath the rubble. Director Feras Feyyad zooms in on the volunteers wearing white helmets and the terriible dilemma they face.

Khaled feels trapped. His freedom is severely restricted in Aleppo yet if he were to leave the city, he would be a fish out of water. Every day, right where he grew up, he puts on his white helmet to extract shelling victims from underneath the rubble with the help of other volunteers. There is an outburst of joy whenever they succeed in saving the lives of entire families, although at many occasions they recover casualties. A cease-fire enables them to get away from things and take their children to a playground. Meanwhile, they face ever greater risks increase and doubt sets in. Should Khaled take his wife and children and leave the city to seek refuge elsewhere?

IDFA Special

Text: Dirk van der Straaten