Educational Media Reviews Online

50 Feet from Syria is a short documentary about an unassuming Syrian-American orthopedic hand surgeon, Hisham Bismar, who takes time off from a successful American surgical practice to travel to Turkey with a suitcase of donated orthopedic supplies to assist the stream of refugees from Syria’s Civil War. After watching footage on television showing the great need for medical care Dr. Bismar, despite his families’ concerns, heads to Turkey where he is confronted first hand by the residual human devastation of this war. He is faced with a chronic shortage of medical supplies, medical care providers at all levels, and especially specialized orthopedic care of all types. Many of the patients shown in the film have secondary problems due to the lack of adequate initial care and the time interval between the injury and definitive care.

Several other people are also highlighted in the film. Some of these have spent long periods of time in this area trying to provide whatever care is available to the Syrian people who need help. Many of those needing help are children who have been victims of the fighting. The film makes clear through interviews with some of these people that many of the atrocities inflicted by the Syrian Assad regime are intentional and deliberate, despite the military’s claims of incidental collateral damage. The difficulties many of these Syrian refugees encounter while trying to reach Turkey where the vestiges of effective medical care are still operational are well documented as are some of the people who risk their lives on a daily basis to assist them in reaching the care they need. Once the injured have reached Turkey this film documents the difficulties with providing them with the life and limb saving surgical care that is needed. Follow up care is hinted at and shows even greater problems. Many of the injuries depicted in this film require long term convalescence and continued specialized care which appears to be sorely lacking from this area.

Basically a straight forward documentary of Dr. Bismar’s experiences in the short period of time he is assisting in one of the Turkish hospitals located near the Syrian border little additional commentary is provided. The film gives no background on the Syrian Civil War and the language differences make for a difficult audio challenge which is well handled. The major weakness for the film would be the lack of background material. Although the experiences of Dr. Bismar and the people he meets are the focus of the film western audiences would be better served if better commentary and more complete biographies of those encountered were provided. Although the scenes in the film are profound there is little context beyond the suffering and mayhem that is depicted. At the end of the film Dr. Bismar is clear that he is planning to return and continue with the work he has done to this point. Any additional trips could be used to remedy the lack of background and present a more complete story that could be packaged as a more complete work on the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian Civil War and the orthopedic medical care so obviously needed in this region.

This documentary is recommended for audiences from high school through adult. Church groups and other relief organizations would benefit from the experiences of this resolute hand surgeon who does succeed in making a difference. Some scenes involving severe injures, children suffering from their injuries, and blood encourage previewing for acceptability when general audiences are included among the viewers.

Awards

• Jury Award, DOXA, 2016
• Audience Award, Sebastopol Doc FF, 2016