One Day in Aleppo

The camera keeps on filming as the bombs continue to fall and the inhabitants of Aleppo continue to die, day after day. Without words, the lens focuses in—sometimes from above—on the smoldering ruins and the people struggling to survive among them. When Russia cuts off the supply of food and medicine, there is every reason to despair. This small, loving mosaic of images shows the resilience and resistance of the Syrians, building tiny beacons of hope and keeping up their courage by rolling up their sleeves and getting on with life. One man feeds the stray cats, another gathers wood, a third bakes bread—it proves possible to repair a water heater using debris from the smashed buildings. A group of children use paint to brighten up the dusty walls and wrecked cars of the city surrounded by the Syrian army. These are all very ordinary, everyday activities that could almost be reassuring, were it not for the awful background they're taking place against.