Probably 70% of Al-Kateab’s film consists of found primary sources, such as security cam footage, handheld device videos, and news reports. As members of the documentary community, who both previously worked with Al-Kateab, Fuad and Fadi instinctively started recording themselves. The dramatic footage they captured was devastatingly tragic and often absurdly Kafkaesque, but what it never shows is any kind of coordinated government rescue operation, even though off-the-street volunteers could hear buried people screaming under the rubble for several days.
Death Without Mercy truly never pulls its punches, especially when it incorporates the “goodbye” messages recorded by victims fatally trapped beneath debris. Yet, probably the most damning segment is a government PSA message recorded months earlier, promising a clean slate to any applicants with open zoning complaints. Suddenly, ten-story buildings that were only zoned for four became legal, as a gift to the people, offered by their loving government.
Frankly, the Syrian government’s response was probably even worse, but there is less documentation, because the Assad regime has turned the country into a closed pariah state. In fact, the Syrian government largely relied on relief aid from the United Nations (which we paid for), that was hopelessly slow in reaching victims, because of gross bureaucratic incompetence.
