''Last Men in Aleppo'' () is a 2017 documentary film about the Syrian Civil War. Written and directed by

Feras Fayyad Feras Fayyad (born September 20, 1988) is a Syrian film director, producer, and writer. Fayyad best known for his 2017 documentary ''Last Men in Aleppo and his 2019 documentary The Cave (2019 Syrian film), The Cave,'' both films earned him crit ...

, produced by Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen, it documents the life in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

during the war and particularly sheds light on the search-and-rescue missions of the internationally recognized White Helmets, an organization consisting of ordinary citizens who are the first to rush towards military strikes and attacks in the hope of saving lives. The documentary highlights the lives of three White Helmets founders, Khaled Omar Harrah, Subhi Alhussen and Mahmoud Alheter as they grapple the dilemma to flee their country or stay and fight for it. The film won the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the

2017 Sundance Film Festival The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016. Awards The following awards were presented: * Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – '' I Don't Feel ...

and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

. The film also won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 11th

Asia pacific Screen Awards The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting a ...

in 2017. After its theatrical run, it aired on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series '' POV''.

Synopsis

Government forces loyal to President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

initiate the military offensive to recover the city of Aleppo from the rebels, this triggers a humanitarian crisis in the city and its surroundings. The film follows the day-to-day life of the White Helmets as they work to rescue survivors from the ruins of the city, also explores the debate between the humanitarian workers of leaving the city for good.

Reception

Critical response

''Last Men in Aleppo'' has an approval rating of 97% on

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website

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, based on 35 reviews, and an average rating of 8.06/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Heartbreaking and hopeful, ''Last Men in Aleppo'' paints an urgent portrait of war-torn Syria, putting faces on an ongoing and complicated conflict". It also has a score of 80 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

Grasshopper Films: Last Men in Aleppo page''Last Men in Aleppo''
at '' POV'' * 2017 films 2017 documentary films Syrian documentary films Aleppo in the Syrian civil war Documentary films about the Syrian civil war Best Documentary Bodil Award winners Best Documentary Robert Award winners {{hist-documentary-film-stub