Ideas worth spreading

The real-life superheroes helping Syrian refugees

1,577,787 views |

Feras Fayyad |

TED Fellows: Shape Your Future

• May 2021

Society has a set of stories it tells itself about who refugees are and what they look like, says documentarian and TED Fellow Feras Fayyad. With his films, he's on a mission to separate the facts about refugees from fiction, as a form of resistance -- for himself, his daughter and the millions of other Syrian refugees across the world. A harrowing account, a quest to end injustice and a testament to the power of storytelling.

Society has a set of stories it tells itself about who refugees are and what they look like, says documentarian and TED Fellow Feras Fayyad. With his films, he's on a mission to separate the facts about refugees from fiction, as a form of resistance -- for himself, his daughter and the millions of other Syrian refugees across the world. A harrowing account, a quest to end injustice and a testament to the power of storytelling.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Feras Fayyad's film The Cave, an unflinching story of the Syrian war and some of its most unlikely heroes.

Support the "Al Amal" (Hope) Fund, which recognizes and honors the humanitarian heroism of the pediatrician Dr. Amani Ballour who managed an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, Syria for several years.

About the speaker

Feras Fayyad

Documentary filmmaker

See speaker profile

Feras Fayyad's films bear witness to the struggles of his fellow Syrians, as they struggle to survive and save their neighbors.

Feras Fayyad, 2019 | Watch

The Cave

A 2020 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, The Cave paints a stirring portrait of courage, resilience and female solidarity inside a subterranean hospital in Syria run by a young, female pediatrician.

Feras Fayyad, 2017 | Watch

Last Men in Aleppo

A 2018 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, filmmaker Feras Fayyad's breathtaking work is a searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage. The documentary follows the efforts 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.

Feras Fayyad | The Guardian, 2018 | Article

"Feras Fayyad: 'I never thought as a film-maker that I would feel endangered'"

The director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Last Men in Aleppo( speaks of trauma and paranoia over the extreme lengths some are taking to stop him from telling the truth.

Deborah Amos | NPR, 2020 | Article

"Syrian Filmmaker Speaks Out On Torture: 'I Was Holding This Pain For A Long Time'"

A chilling description of torture in an infamous Syrian prison: "There were screams, they weren't normal," Syrian witness Feras Fayyad said in court. "I was very afraid."

Amanpour and Company | YouTube, 2019 | Watch

"Director Feras Fayyad on His New Documentary"

Hari Sreenivasan sat down with Feras Fayyad to discuss his traumatic experience of being kidnapped and imprisoned in Syria. Their conversation contains images of war victims and descriptions of torture.

Garance Le Caisne | Polity, 2018 | Book

Operation Caesar: At the Heart of the Syrian Death Machine by Garance Le Caisne

This military police photographer was required to document the murder and torture of thousands of Syrian civilians in the custody of the Assad regime. Over the course of two years, he used a police computer to copy the photos, and in 2013 he risked his life to smuggle out 53,000 photos and documents that show prisoners tortured, starved and burned to death.

Candace Smith | ABC News, 2019 | Article

"Doctor describes fighting to save her people in underground hospital 'targeted' by Assad regime"

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Feras Fayyad's film The Cave, an unflinching story of the Syrian war and some of its most unlikely heroes.

Support the "Al Amal" (Hope) Fund, which recognizes and honors the humanitarian heroism of the pediatrician Dr. Amani Ballour who managed an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, Syria for several years.