'Return to Homs' was screened in Brussels on Tuesday night as part of the One World film festival. It was a gripping and heartbreaking portrayal of the war in Syria from the rebels-eye-view.
About 200 people attended the screening at the Czech Representation to the EU. Only about half of those stayed for the panel debate afterwards.
Šimon Pánek, director of People in Need, the NGO behind the event, looked grim-faced and weary as he listened to Syrian opposition figures express their frustration with the international community for not helping them.
After 20 years in the humanitarian relief business, one sensed that he'd seen it all before. He referred to the siege of Sarajevo. Eventually something was done there.
Who knows how long it will take for 'something' to be done in Syria.
Overall, the event was an admirable and well-organized effort to raise public awareness of the war in Syria. One just wishes that it could have reached more people. There was no evidence of media coverage.
With so many conflicts in the world, where do you start?
At least another 200 people have a greater insight onto the war and will hopefully pass on their experience to family and friends.
Europeans have the luxury of choosing which conflicts to follow. How long before that choice disappears?
About 200 people attended the screening at the Czech Representation to the EU. Only about half of those stayed for the panel debate afterwards.
Šimon Pánek, director of People in Need, the NGO behind the event, looked grim-faced and weary as he listened to Syrian opposition figures express their frustration with the international community for not helping them.
After 20 years in the humanitarian relief business, one sensed that he'd seen it all before. He referred to the siege of Sarajevo. Eventually something was done there.
Who knows how long it will take for 'something' to be done in Syria.
Overall, the event was an admirable and well-organized effort to raise public awareness of the war in Syria. One just wishes that it could have reached more people. There was no evidence of media coverage.
With so many conflicts in the world, where do you start?
At least another 200 people have a greater insight onto the war and will hopefully pass on their experience to family and friends.
Europeans have the luxury of choosing which conflicts to follow. How long before that choice disappears?
That was a very interesting film indeed. It shed light on what a civil war looks like and what it does to people, their families and their homes. The wider picture of the Syrian dilemma however was not part of the film or of the discussion afterwards. Only the awareness was expressed, that the consolidation of a post civil war Syria wont be easy and that an independent legal authority needs to deal with atrocities committed.
ReplyDeleteI found a nicly done 5 minutes video clip on the problems that make it so hard, perhaps impossible, to solve the Syrian crisis in any near future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5H5w3_QTG0