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The War Show is told through footage mostly shot by Syrian radio host Obaidah Zytoon. Starting in 2011 she took her camera to protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. For the next few years, Zytoon filmed her friends, their involvement in the revolution, and the torture, gun battles, starvation and destruction of her country.

The film's co-writer Spencer Osberg met Zytoon in 2013 when he was working as a magazine editor in Beirut. She had escaped Syria and sought refuge there.

“The reason I've stayed involved with (the film) for so long is because it feels like a defining movie, like 15, 20 years from now when people talk about the Syrian conflict, this tells the story of it,” he said.

The film premiered at Venice Days in August, received a standing ovation and won the jury prize. Osberg said during its first showing, some audience members were weeping during the film.

“It tells the wider story, but it brings you through it in a personal way where you get attached to the people,” he said. “You feel you know them and then they're taken from you.”