CRIES FROM SYRIA is a searing, comprehensive account of a brutal five-year conflict from the inside out, drawing on hundreds of hours of war footage from Syrian activists and citizen journal... Read allCRIES FROM SYRIA is a searing, comprehensive account of a brutal five-year conflict from the inside out, drawing on hundreds of hours of war footage from Syrian activists and citizen journalists, as well as testimony from child protesters, leaders of the revolution, human rights ... Read allCRIES FROM SYRIA is a searing, comprehensive account of a brutal five-year conflict from the inside out, drawing on hundreds of hours of war footage from Syrian activists and citizen journalists, as well as testimony from child protesters, leaders of the revolution, human rights defenders, ordinary citizens, and high-ranking army generals who defected from the governm... Read all
- Awards
- 8 wins & 15 nominations total
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Self
- (archive footage)
Featured reviews
The story is truly tragic, as a hopefully attempt for an Arab spring type peaceful uprising against the long standing violent and dictatorial leadership of Assad (the film includes footage of his torturers at work) devolved quickly into brutal civil war as the government uses any means necessary to subdue it's citizens -- including devastating chemical weapon's attacks (again, among the often very brutal footage in the film).
At the same time ISIS came to the country promising to ally with the people, but quickly revealed their own murderous ways as they attempt to take over large areas of the country and impose themselves as draconian strongmen despots, killing anyone who won't do their bidding or live by their rules. So now for the people of Syria, their cities and society are being decimated by two groups of monsters simultaneously. Meanwhile, the world does shockingly little to help the rebels. As Russian planes go on bombing raids to help bolster their puppet government, the US and US look on with horror, but don't seem to be trying to even get the rebels supplies, much less to fight for or with the, or even to send a meaningful peace keeping force.
What makes the film really stand out is how it works as an emotionally devastating account of human suffering, while still doing a better job than any documentary or news report I've seen to simply make clear exactly what is going on, and whom is fighting with whom in the Syrian nightmare.
Be warned, much of the footage is graphic, it needs to be to describe the whole horrendous situation over there. If the world understands what's happened over there, we might be a little more compassionate for the people who suffered through this, especially the children.
After WWII we looked back and wondered why we waited so long to get involved. In Syria much is already too late, but there's still time left to do something, something for the children and their cries for help.
I came upon this show by accident while channel surfing and I couldn't look away. I wonder if HBO had ever shown this during prime time hours like 8 PM or only on late night (12:40AM - 2:40AM) when I caught it. After our last presidential election where our new president (sadly it's Trump) talked about refusing assistance to these people or even letting them in, it makes you wonder how Christian all these American people really are. When you stand before God for judgment, he will ask you what you did to help people like these and you better have a good answer.
This show follows the war in Syria over several years, from the civil war against the Asad regime to the invasion by ISIS to the Russian involvement, which only made things worse. It is VERY GRAPHIC, as it should be. It includes real footages of death, destruction, dismemberment, and even footages of civilians poisoned by WMD from Asad's regime, as the world did little to help.
To me, this show is one of the few that I feel everyone should watch. As I watched this, I remembered an incident I read about in WW2. When the Allies invaded Germany and freed the Jews, they saw the concentration camps and began to realize the full extent of the massacre. They asked the German people of a nearby town why they did not do anything against their government, the people responded they didn't know what was happening to the jews. The Allies then to these people to the concentration camps and showed them what they did not know was going on.
If we Americans are true Christians, then we need to show it in our actions.
Did you know
- TriviaCher will debut an original song for this film ("Prayers For This World") likely during the end credits. The song is penned by acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren who previously collaborated with Cher in the mega-hit "If I Could Turn Back Time" and the Golden Globe-winning song "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" from "Burlesque".
- Quotes
N/A: Bashar Al-Assad thinks he is the right one and we are the wrong ones. He feels he owns Syria, and we are the ones killing people and bombing people. Now yea re in the third year. We all want to break the siege. But we didn't come here to eat. We cam here to die with honor. If they keep up the siege, it won't stop us. We fight and die standing on our feet. The war is worth fighting for and worth dying for. Let them do what they want, we're not scared. We are the people of the land, and the decisions is ours.
- ConnectionsEdited into Chris Cornell: The Promise (2017)
- SoundtracksPrayers for This World
Written by Diane Warren
Performed by Cher and West Los Angeles Children's Choir
Details
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color