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Two powerful images of children over the past 18 months have given Americans a glimpse of the violence and heartbreak taking place in war-torn Syria.
First we saw a small boy, lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach, drowned in an attempt to flee the country. Later, there was a video of a boy injured in an airstrike in the city of Aleppo. Dirty-faced and bloody, he sits on the orange ambulance seat, rubbing his eyes, but too stunned to cry.
It is these children — and thousands like them — who inspired Oscar-nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky during the making of the documentary "Cries from Syria," which makes its world premiere Sunday, Jan. 22, at the Sundance Film Festival.
"The kids and mothers, they are the essential part of this war," Afineevsky said in a telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles. "Their struggles are bigger than anyone else's."
He called them Syria's "lost generation.
"Every kid I met was already much more mature [than their age]," he said. Once the war started, "they jumped into adulthood. They didn't have a childhood. It is gone."
War in Syria is a subject that runs through several entries at this year's film festival, which opens Thursday in Park City.
"City of Ghosts," a U.S. Documentary Competition entry, and "Last Men in Aleppo," in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, will be making world premieres, while "Mare Nostrum" can be seen in the International Narrative Short Film section. (See box for details.)
The Syrian uprising against the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad started in March 2011, inspired by similar "Arab Spring" events in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed, 7 million have been internally displaced and more than 5 million have tried to survive by fleeing the country. Two-thirds of those who have fled to date are women and children.
In "Cries from Syria," Afineevsky draws on hundreds of hours of footage from Syrian activists and citizen journalists, as well as testimony from child protesters, revolution leaders, human-rights defenders, ordinary citizens and high-ranking army generals who have defected from the government.
Last week, HBO announced that it had acquired U.S. TV rights to the documentary, with a debut set March 13.
"This is an unabashed, unadulterated view of war," Sheila Nevins, president of HBO Documentary Films, said in announcing the acquisition. "The brutality of man's inhumanity to man is blatantly uncovered, exposing war as it is, not as it seems to be."
The film will include the original song "Prayers for this World" by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, recorded by Cher along with The West Los Angeles Children's Choir.
Afineevsky started researching the war in Syria after working on his 2015 historical features documentary, "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom," which was nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy and received the People's Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The final cut of "Cries from Syria" gives an understandable review of how the war began and escalated and how outside interests — including Russia — came to be involved. It offers an unsanitized version of brutality, with shocking footage of starvation, chemical warfare and targeted airstrikes on hospitals and schools.
"It's a journey into the darker side of humanity," Afineevsky said. "People will learn what is real war and understand what it's like to go to bed not knowing if you will wake up."
But Afineevsky said he believes it also has a hopeful message.
In America, "we take a lot of things for granted," he said, noting freedom of speech in particular, which is something the Syrian people are fighting for most.
"We are not looking at the starvation around us or respecting our neighbor who has a different color of skin or religion," he said. "I hope people will evaluate what they do on a day-by-day basis. I hope it teaches us to be more tolerant and cherish every aspect of what we have around us."
Syrian war on Sundance screens
The civil war in Syria is a theme that runs through three full-length films and a narrative short at this year's Sundance Film Festival, opening Thursday in Park City. For a list of all screenings and ticket information, visit sundance.org.
"City of Ghosts" (U.S. Documentary) • Director Matthew Heineman follows a group of anonymous citizen journalists — "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently" — who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS. Heineman's previous film "Cartel Land" was nominated for an Academy Award and won three Emmy Awards after premiering at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won jury awards for directing and cinematography. Premieres Saturday, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m. at The MARC in Park City.
"Cries from Syria" (Documentary Premieres) • Children and parents recount how the Syrian revolution began in 2011 and quickly escalated into a civil war with unthinkable crimes against humanity. Director Evgeny Afineevsky's previous film, "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom," was nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy and received the People's Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Premieres Sunday, Jan. 22, 2:30 p.m. at The MARC in Park City.
"Last Men in Aleppo" (World Cinema Documentary) • After five years of war in Syria, Aleppo's remaining residents prepare themselves for a siege. Khalid, Subhi and Mahmoud, founding members of The White Helmets, have remained in the city to help their fellow citizens — and experience daily life, death, struggle and triumph in a city under fire. Directed by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen. Premieres Monday, Jan. 23, 2:45 p.m. at the Yarrow Hotel Theatre in Park City.
Mare Nostrum (International Narrative Short Film) • On a Mediterranean shore, a Syrian father makes a decision that puts his daughter's life at risk. Directors: Rana Kazkaz, Anas Khalaf; with screenwriter Rana Kazkaz. Part of the Shorts Program 5, premiering Friday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m. at the Redstone Cinema 2 in Park City.