Inside the Syrian Insurrection

A film by Paul Moreira and Pedro da Fonseca
Produced by Premières Lignes with the participation of Canal+
Broadcast December 5, 2011

On November 5, 2011, journalist Paul Moreira slipped undercover into Syria and spent 10 days with these resistance fighters. In this extraordinary film, we see for the first time the daily life of the Free Syrian Army. Poorly armed and ill equipped, they nonetheless display surprising determination. The film crew lived in their hideouts and was able to capture them in combat. For the last seven months, men from the Syrian regime have been systematically killing peaceful unarmed demonstrators. Despite the threat from tanks and sniper bullets, the Syrian people have continued to come out into the street en masse. But in the past few weeks, armed men have begun to protect these demonstrations and to fight back against the regime’s violence.
President Bashar al-Assad still controls the main highways and urban centres, but Moreira and his team discovered a parallel country interconnected by dirt tracks frequented by insurgents on motorbikes, one where the population shows unfailing support to the rebels. This resistance army is being swelled by a growing wave of deserters. In the Syrian regular army, ever more soldiers are rejecting orders to shoot on civilians and are going over to the Free Army. While the world wonders why the international community has abandoned the Syrian people to their fate, this film offers an astonishing journey into what may be the twilight days of the Assad clan.