An imperfect 10

Even prior to the world being beset by catastrophic news, first the climate crisis then Covid-19, compassion fatigue had become a malaise of our time. 

24-hour rolling bulletins coming at us from all portals have overloaded our collective consciousness with relentless images of human distress – meaning it can be hard to focus on the particulars, on what needs to be done. 

This simple, effective film, created by agency Acne Milan, and directed by Igor Borghi through Indiana Productions, draws attention to the fact that the civil war in Syria has been raging for 10 years. 

What started as peaceful pro-democracy protest against the authoritarian Assad regime, has widened into a complex conflict with factions funded by foreign powers, that's resulted in the deaths or disappearance of over 500,000 souls. 

More than half the country’s pre-war population of 22 million have become displaced and one million Syrian refugee children have been born in exile. 

Focusing on the plight of a refugee family trying to celebrate the birthday of a young girl, Mariam, the film depicts her blowing out a candle with the words “when a war turns 10, the only wish is for it to end.”

It closes with a reminder that 10 years on, help is still needed, and a call to donate to Terre des Hommes, which works to restore the rights of Syrian children in need of care, protection and education.