The White Helmets (2016)

Through two simple approaches, director Orlando von Einsiedel paints a power portrait of human heroism. He interviews the heros themselves, letting them tell their story in their own voices, and he shows the very scenes of devastation they work in everyday. It is a powerful combination which gives its audience a taste of what true heroism looks like.

"Better to save a soul than take one." says one of the men interviewed in The White Helmets. A former soldier, who believed he was fighting on the right side, realized that he was being called to save lives instead of take them. He says it simply, without hubris. The men in this film don't see themselves as heroes. They are just doing what they feel they must do.

The horror of war is something millions live through. Many of us are comfortably unaware of this in the relative safety of our western world where we are being coerced into being scared anyway, despite all that we have. von Einsiedel very simply, succinctly, and effectively shows us what it looks like for the rest of the world. And what standing up to violence can look like. His short film is remarkable, almost as much as the subjects it follows.

The White Helmets
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel