Cries from Syria

Courage Under Fire Award

CRIES FROM SYRIA is a searing account of the humanitarian crisis and devastating civil war that has defined Syria over the past six years. Drawing on hundreds of hours of war footage from activists and citizen journalists, as well as images and testimony from protestors, revolution leaders, army defectors, ordinary citizens and children, many of them witnesses to unspeakable atrocities, the film tells the story of a people who, despite great suffering, have never lost hope for a better tomorrow.

Director: Evgeny Afineevsky

Evgeny Afineevsky’s career began as a teenager when he won the First Prize for Best Documentary in the largest Republic in Russia and was sent to the Black Sea International Film Festival in Russia.
During 1994-2000, Afineevksy coordinated and produced over 30 musicals in Israel, such as: “Bat” (Die Fledermaus), “Gypsy Baron,” “Viennese Blood,” “Night in Venice,” “Silva Princess of Chardas,” “Mozart Konzerte” with the Prague National Opera Orchestra, and many others. In 1997 and through the beginning of 1999, he produced and co-directed the play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie, and with great success he produced and again co-directed a play by Agatha Christie titled “Spider Web’ in 1999.
In 1999, still in Israel, he directed the TV series “Days of Love.” In 2000-2002, he produced three feature films, “Crime & Punishment,” starring Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Clive Revil and Margot Kidder; “Death Game,” staring Billy Drago, Joe Lara, Richard Lynch and Bo Brown; and “The Return from India,” starring Aki Avni, Riki Gal, Assi Dayan, Dana Parnas and Orly Perl.
As producer of “The Return from India” (2002), Afineevsky received the Israeli Grand from the Israeli Film Fund. In 2005, he received The Gold Special Jury Award from the 38th Annual Houston Worldfest for “The Return from India.” In 2007, he received the Platinum Remi Award from the 40th Annual Houston Worldfest for his film “Crime & Punishment” (2002). In 2008, he received the Platinum Remi Award from the 41st Annual Houston Worldfest for his film “Death Game” (2002). He also received the Gold Remi Award for Best Original Comedy Screenplay for “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” (2008) and he won the Best Original Screenplay / Script of the Year award from the Monaco Charity Film Festival for “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!,” which he produced and directed in 2008-2009-2010. “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” was his feature directorial debut for which he collected over 23 awards in the US and abroad. Then he created the educational documentary project “Divorce: A Journey Through the Kids’ Eyes,” which was immediately picked up by distributors and received awards and recognition from the US festival circuit. His recent project, an award-winning historical feature documentary “Winter on Fire,” was an official selection of the Venice and Telluride International film festivals, received the People’s Choice Award for the Best Documentary from the Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award®.
He is the member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Directors Guild of America and Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.