The Cave

A searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage 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. Incorporating moments of both heart-pounding suspense and improbable beauty, the documentary draws us into the lives of three of its founders — Khaled, Subhi, and Mahmoud — as they grapple with the chaos around them and struggle with an ever-present dilemma: do they flee or stay and fight for their country?

Suffocated by a cruel, inescapable siege imposed by the Syrian regime and after five months of incessant and senseless shelling, a group of children living in Aleppo start painting the walls of their city. It is an act of protest as well as resistance: a small act that dares to dream of bringing back life in a place that has been humiliated by bombs and bullets, while international powers were watching without doing anything to save lives. Thus, the colours sowed throughout the devastated city sprout small beacons of hope for the thousands of people trapped in Aleppo, smothered by the ruins and rubbles. So, while the Russian forces cut off supplies of food and medicine, more than 280,000 civilians languishing without a home or a shelter try to find new hope and reasons to go on. What happened in Aleppo will never be forgotten.