“The White Helmets,” a documentary about volunteer rescue workers in Syria, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Sunday. It was the first Academy Award win for Netflix, which distributed the film.
Cinematographer and press officer for the Syrian White Helmets, Khaled Khatib, did not fly to the United States to attend the event. He tweeted that though he was able to obtain a US visa, he would not be going due to the “intensity of work,” also saying that “our priority is helping our people.”
The 40-minute film follows three rescue workers with the White Helmets who train in Turkey to provide emergency medical assistance to civilians caught in Syria’s civil war.
“If we win this award, it will show people across Syria that people around the world support them,” Khatib said before the awards. “It will give courage to every volunteer who wakes up every morning to run towards bombs.”