With bombs exploding and under sniper fire, we trace the lives of ordinary people in war-torn Syria.

Filmmakers: Wojciech Szumowski and Michal Przedlacki

As Syria's civil war continues to rage, this film shows the life of Aleppo from the perspective of seven of its residents, struggling with the hardships of war: A social journalist, a street vendor, a cleric, an entrepreneur, a doctor from a field hospital, a shopkeeper - ordinary people with hopes and dreams of freedom.

Next to exploding bombs and under sniper fire, they talk about the Syrian revolution and their own hopes for the future.

Situations from the frontlines are interspersed with Quran study in moments of relaxation; humanitarian aid to the needy is mixed with unrest and protests in the street. A soldier tends to his wounded son, a doctor struggles for the life of the victims, a filmmaker prepares new material.

The film presents a panorama of characters and then lets them speak. Shocking reporter accounts of rescue operations after the bombardments are complemented by the characters' deliberations on Islam, the religion that builds their identity. What do they do when dark despair engulfs their souls?

The filmmakers shot the film in the bombarded city for 44 days in the summer of 2013 and created a unique record of the situation in Syria.

Source: Al Jazeera