The White Helmets is a short documentary film released in 2016, following the daily lives of the Syrian Civil Defence, who are nicknamed the White Helmets. Each of these men is a volunteer who becomes part of a team that focuses on medical evacuation after an incident such as a bomb or other explosion or attack. Despite his Continental European-sounding name, the film's director, Orlando von Einsiedel, is actually British, and is well known for his documentary films of varying lengths most of which focus on issues of global and social justice. von Einsiedel and the film's producer, Joanna Natasegara, first came to prominence as a team when they released Virunga two years earlier which showcased the work of the park rangers within the Virunga National Park in the Congo during the violent M23 rebellion.
The White Helmets focuses on three volunteers in particular, first following them and their unit as they are trained in Turkey, and subsequently filming them in real time as they carry out duties around Aleppo, and in other towns across Syria.
Before making the film, both director and producer admitted to knowing very little about the Syrian Civil Defence; Natasegara had discovered poor quality footage of the force on YouTube, and become interested in producing a project about the selfless volunteers she saw on the screen. von Einsiedel was particularly captivated by footage of a small child being dug from the rubble after a bombing, and he contacted the Mayday Rescue Foundation, a Dutch-based non-profit organization that provides support and training to emergency first responders in areas of conflict, natural disaster or political instability. He asked if he could join the trainees in Turkey and was given permission to do so.
The film was both critically and commercially successful, winning the Best Short Documentary Film Academy Award in 2017.
