Raw footage of Syrian boy 'braving sniper fire' to rescue girl was faked by Norwegian filmmakers
Morocco: A video appearing to show a young Syrian boy braving sniper fire to rescue a girl was faked by a Norwegian film crew as an experiment, according tom BBC Trending.
The unidentified boy was labelled as a hero after footage circulated on YouTube showing him apparently dodging a shower of bullets with the terrified girl to drag her to safety.
Professional child actors were used to make the film in Morocco. (Photo: Youtube grab)
1.4 The film, the "syrian hero boy" is made by a team of great people. The film aimed to focus everyone's attention on children living in
— Lars Klevberg (@LarsKlevberg) November 14, 2014After being shared by the Shaam TV Network the footage attracted international attention and has so far garnered more than 5 million views on YouTube. But now a group of Norwegian filmmakers has come forward to say that they faked the video and deliberately presented it as reality to “spur debate”.
It was scripted and filmed in Malta over the summer with professional child actors from Malta and Syrian refugees volunteering to “react” in the background. Lars Klevberg, a 34-year-old film director from Oslo, told BBC Trending he was “not uncomfortable” potentially deceiving millions of people.
— Lars Klevberg (@LarsKlevberg) November 14, 2014Watch: The Syrian 'hero boy' video was faked by Norwegian filmmakers
“We wanted to see if the film would get attention and spur debate, first and foremost about children and war,” he said. “We also wanted to see how the media would respond to such a video."
The Norwegian Film Institute, which contributed 280,000 kroner (£26,480) towards the controversial project, said it was the producers’ responsibility to tell people the footage was not genuine.
Watch: Raw footage of 'SYRIAN HERO BOY' rescue girl in shootout
