7 Days in Syria

The human side of war

In 2012 Newsweek Middle East editor, Janine di Giovanni, submitted a proposal to cover the war in Syria. The magazine denied the request, deeming the situation too dangerous. She decided to go anyway.

Over the course of seven days, Janine travels through the Syrian war zone, bringing viewers along to share the experience. One moment a young girl is melodically singing in the marketplace and the next…a loud explosion and she disappears from view as the image shakes. Conditions are extreme with constant shelling and bombardment, threat of sniper fire, and kidnappings. And in the midst of all the chaos, there are the Syrian people. Janine meets a carpenter—turned-baker, a man considered to be a hero of Aleppo who makes bread to keep his neighbors alive. Then there’s Waad, a Syrian teenager studying economics until the university was bombed. She documents injuries and deaths of soldiers and civilians for posterity and war tribunals. SEVEN DAYS IN SYRIA shines a light in one of the darkest places on earth.