The Cave

"From the award-winning Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad ("The Last Men in Aleppo"), "The Cave" is a devastating documentary that brings to the world's attention the difficult situation faced by the least culpable of the Syrian conflict: the civilians and those fighting to keep them alive. The first scene is chilling, not only because we know the bombings are real, but because we intuit that life in this ruined city cannot be life for anyone. But the story goes much further: to find the deepest meaning of being human in the most adverse situations. Who is capable of staying at the front of an underground hospital in a city almost completely destroyed? What is the absolute meaning of human life in the midst of other people's misfortune? War and all its senselessness are questioned without words, from the battle line of these doctors no philosophical questions are asked, but they act and react with the only thing they have: their knowledge, their hands and what remains of hope. A brave 30-year-old pediatrician leads this hospital amid the contradictions of systematic sexism, suffered by the same women who risk their lives to save others. However, the director also manages to find the beauty and usefulness of being alive in the midst of tragedy, and the result is a film that will surely move you deeply. Nominated for the 2020 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature."