Synopsis
From her room in Chicago, Ala’a, 19 year-old, uses social media to coordinate the revolution in Syria, helped by Aous, a student in Damascus, Bassel, a film student from USA returned home to Syria, and a score of citizen journalists in Homs. At first Ala’a helps organize demonstrations in Syria, the protest route and the escape routes. As dictator Bashar al-Assad crackdown on protestors and institutes a media blackout, Ala’a and her network, using camera phones and digital cameras, devise a system to show the world the truth of what’s happening in Syria: someone in the network takes a video and uploads it to Internet, Ala’a downloads it, subtitles it in English and sends it to news organizations around the world. But after Bashar al-Assad bombs Homs, the videos become cries for help to the international community. Ala’a and her network must decide what is the most effective way to fight a dictator: social media or AK-47s.