Ideas change everything

The real-life superheroes helping Syrian refugees

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Feras Fayyad |

TED Fellows: Shape Your Future

• May 2021

Society has a set of stories it tells itself about who refugees are and what they look like, says documentarian and TED Fellow Feras Fayyad. With his films, he's on a mission to separate the facts about refugees from fiction, as a form of resistance -- for himself, his daughter and the millions of other Syrian refugees across the world. A harrowing account, a quest to end injustice and a testament to the power of storytelling.

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Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Society has a set of stories it tells itself about who refugees are and what they look like, says documentarian and TED Fellow Feras Fayyad. With his films, he's on a mission to separate the facts about refugees from fiction, as a form of resistance -- for himself, his daughter and the millions of other Syrian refugees across the world. A harrowing account, a quest to end injustice and a testament to the power of storytelling.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Learn more about Feras Fayyad's film The Cave, an unflinching story of the Syrian war and some of its most unlikely heroes.

Support the "Al Amal" (Hope) Fund, which recognizes and honors the humanitarian heroism of the pediatrician Dr. Amani Ballour who managed an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, Syria for several years.

About the speaker

Documentary filmmaker

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Feras Fayyad's films bear witness to the struggles of his fellow Syrians, as they struggle to survive and save their neighbors.

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TED Fellows: Shape Your Future

This groundbreaking selection of talks from the TED Fellows are snapshots of influential, new ideas from leading voices in medicine, human rights, conservation, astrophysics, education and beyond. Dive in to discover what (and who) is shaping your future.

null - TED Fellows: Shape Your Future

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Learn more about Feras Fayyad's film The Cave, an unflinching story of the Syrian war and some of its most unlikely heroes.

Support the "Al Amal" (Hope) Fund, which recognizes and honors the humanitarian heroism of the pediatrician Dr. Amani Ballour who managed an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, Syria for several years.