Embed

I’m Sameer from Damascus

Life in Syria’s capital through the lens of a local cameraman

War in Syria has been raging for five years causing millions to leave the country. This is the story about those who stayed.

Related: Syrian veterans seeing past their injuries to a better life

The start of the bloody conflict forced many Syrians to put their lives on hold until the situation stabilises. But five years on, there is no end in sight to the devastating war.  Many civilians have lost their homes, their possessions and even their loved ones. Trying to preserve at least some normality of life, people learnt to live in the state of emergency. Just like in peaceful times, they go to the market, socialise in cafes, work, get married and organise big weddings. But even in the capital, Damascus, that has seen less devastation than a lot of other big Syrian cities and so welcomed many internally displaced war refugees, no one is truly safe. Shells here explode and kill indiscriminately, destroying roads, cars and buildings and taking lives of those who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Related: Children of Syria. The tragedy of kids who've never known peace.

Sameer Alfarra is a cameraman at Syrian TV Channel. He came to Damascus from Aleppo, fleeing the war and leaving his house and businesses behind. During the years of war, he saw the strength of the ordinary Syrians who decided to stay in their home country. Filming people’s stories every day, visiting new sites of destruction, losing his colleagues in war casualties, he knows better than anybody, what it takes the Syrians to go on with their lives every day and stay strong. Through the lens of his camera, he wants to show us the toll this war has taken on Syrian people as well as their unbroken spirit and how through all the hardships and grief that befell them, they manage to preserve love and hope for a peaceful future.

Subscribe to get stories the mainstream media ignores: Subscribe RTD's Youtube

WATCH TRAILER
Please rate this film

10.00(10 users)

Published: 18 April 2016 00:00

Duration

26:43

Tags
Watch this film in Russian

don't miss

26:33
Military and War 10 July 2017 00:00

War as a Working Place. Syrian reporters risk death to bring news from the frontlines

26:33
Military and War 18 January 2017 00:00

Unbroken in Syria. Syrian veterans seeing past their injuries to a better life

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 08 February 2019 00:30

Where Childhood Died. Former Syrian child soldiers and their emotional scars

26:33
Society 28 February 2018 00:00

Sex, Drugs & Refugees. Syrian teenagers in Athens resort to prostitution to survive

26:33
Arts and Culture 15 February 2019 00:30

Syrian Tango. Art and Dance reviving Syria's soul

26:33
Military and War 08 August 2016 00:00

Amnesty in Wartime. Assad Pardons Former Syrian Militants

26:33
Human Rights 20 January 2016 00:00

No Laughing Matter. When refugees find their smiles again...

26:33
Military and War 13 February 2017 00:00

Growing up with War: Children of Syria. The tragedy of kids who've never known peace.

26:33
Military and War 16 December 2022 12:00

My Friend From War. Volleyball helps soldier live through trauma

26:33
Personalities 16 October 2018 00:31

Eternal . In memory of Khaled Alkhateb, RT war reporter

26:33
Military and War 19 September 2020 20:00

Sniper in the sand. A story of a German sniper who joined Kurdish YPG in Syria

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 26 May 2021 17:00

Syria. The Story of One Tragedy . Leith - a boy whose entire family was killed before his eyes

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 08 September 2023 12:00

Lost Souls. Terrorists exploit religion to poach new recruits

26:33
Politics 29 March 2012 00:00

Spring forever

26:33
Religion 19 August 2013 00:00

The Way of The Cross. Egypt’s Coptic Christians under pressure after the Arab Spring

26:33
Personalities 24 June 2019 00:42

Fisher of Men. Tunisian man gives hundreds of unknown migrants a decent burial

26:33
Investigation 25 March 2020 13:20

Desperate Straits. Corrupt reality of the refugee crisis in Italy

26:33
Society 16 May 2016 00:00

Zabbaleen: Trash Town. A whole community in Egypt that lives on rubbish

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 02 September 2015 00:00

ISIS vs Christ. Relatives of the terrorists’ victims pray for their killers

26:33
Military and War 24 July 2020 12:28

Syrian Diaries. 9 years of war in Syria through the eyes of a TV cameraman and disabled vets

VIEWER’S CHOICE: 1,000,000 VIEWS AND MORE

VIEW ALL