Photo: Bassel Shehadeh Foundation.
Photo: Bassel Shehadeh Foundation.

Bassel Shehadeh was born in Damascus in 1984. His passion was filmmaking. In August 2011 he was on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Film degree in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. While in the USA, Bassel interviewed for his film Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Amy Goodman, Erica Chenoweth to generate discussions on nonviolence between Syrian and Western thinkers. However, Bassel couldn't stay away from Syria, and came back on Christmas 2011 to play an active role in the uprising and an essential role in documenting the nonviolent civil movement in the country. Bassel was killed in Homs on 28 May 2012 during a Syrian regime bombardment on the city. Bassel became a symbol for many young Syrian men and women who were motivated by his resilience, vision, and strong belief in the rights and the power of Syrian people.

The filmscreening will be followed by a panel discussion on non-violence with Dr. Josepha Ivanka Wessels(Copenhagen University), Professor Erica Chenoweth(per Skype), and a representative of the Bassel Shehadeh Foundation.