Aleppo: Life Under Siege

The battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once home to over 2 million people, is in its fourth year. Divided between opposition held east and government-controlled west, ordinary civilians are suffering on both sides. The east has been relentlessly bombed by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by the Russian military and for last month five citizen journalists in East Aleppo, commissioned by Panorama, have been documenting life under siege. The film is an intimate portrait of ordinary people struggling to stay alive, including a civil defence volunteer who risks death to save his fellow citizens. The film goes behind the headlines into the backstreets of East Aleppo, to show the horror, chaos and fear of the daily bombings but also the surprising humanity, resilience and hope of the people who remain.