Urgent and harrowing, this film documents the White Helmets’s unrelenting efforts to save fellow Syrians. When air strikes devastate homes, they descend on the wreckage to rescue buried men, women, and children, refusing to leave their people or their city behind. While careful not to sensationalize events, the film does not shy away from the harsh realities of what it means to live through bombings, and in following the civil defense group’s work, we bear witness to a brutal cycle of destruction. When the White Helmets arrive at a triage site, a crowd will gather, attracting the attention of pilots, who take aim at the mass of onlookers. Attacks in the middle of a mission are not uncommon and further escalate the risks of this dangerous work. And yet life and hope continue. At one point, a volunteer rescue worker leaves to attend a wedding—new beginnings are celebrated, even as many endings must be endured. Focusing on three volunteers, Khaled, Mahmoud, and Subhi, Last Men in Aleppo shows that spirit still thrives amid a landscape of debris.  ST

Filmmaker Q&A following screening