As the prolonged conflict in Syria moves into its fifth year, over 3.9 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. This number continues to rise daily.

The #WithSyria campaign began on the third anniversary of the conflict. In March 2014, FilmAid International traveled to Jordan's Za'atari Refugee Camp, close to the Syrian border, to host a screening of the Palm d'Or-winning film, Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon) to an audience of Syrian refugees.

FilmAid is now back in Jordan one year later to conduct a Mobile Cinema Screening series for women, children and youth within rural and urban areas of Jordan.

Children take part in a discussion after educational screening, March 2015

FilmAid has partnered up with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children to deliver critical health and protection messages to over 1,000 Syrian refugees who have been forced to flee their country. As well as screening educational content, we also show films for entertainment, which provide much-needed joy and psychological relief for communities that have gone through extraordinary trauma. In addition, events like our Mobile Cinema Screenings enhance community cohesion.

During the screenings, youth and children have been able to take part in facilitated community-based discussions. Some children have already expressed their wishes and aspirations to continue their studies, and discussed the problems and challenges they face daily in the refugee camp.

We would like to thank Greyscale Films for their help to make the screenings possible, as well as the other coalition partners, UNHCR and Save the Children.

If you'd like to support FilmAid's program in Jordan, please visit our Donate page and help us continue to bring life-saving information and hope to Syrian refugees.

As balloons surround the little boy and whisk him away across the skyline, the enraptured audience of young Syrian children breaks into cheers and applause. And so ends the FilmAid screening of the Palm d'Or-winning film, Le Ballon Rouge ("The Red Balloon") bringing much needed joy to children displaced by the ongoing tragedy in Syria nearly 60 years after its production.

I am writing to you from Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan on the third anniversary of the conflict in Syria. A conflict that has seen nearly half the country's population forced to flee from their homes and that has claimed over 100,000 lives. Today, FilmAid joined a global coalition of over 100 NGOs and charities that are coming together to mark this anniversary with a call for solidarity and hope.

Candle-lit vigils and the release of red balloons, inspired by street artist Banksy's reworking of his iconic "girl with a red balloon" image are taking place around the world, from Trafalgar Square in London, to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Moscow and Paris. Close to Syria’s border, in Za'atari refugee camp, children displaced by the conflict also participated in the #WithSyria campaign by releasing balloons and watching the film.

As you can imagine, it was an incredibly moving event and I'm very proud that FilmAid could be involved. This was our first activity in support of Syrian refugees, however, I hope it is not the last. Over the coming weeks and months we will be looking at how we can provide information and empowerment to the millions that have been displaced by the ongoing conflict.

Please support FilmAid as we stand #WithSyria at this crucial moment. Post on Facebook or Tweet a message of support. Visit WithSyria.com to learn more.

I'd like to thank Films Distribution for their help to make the screening possible as well as the other coalition partners, including Save the Children, Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Arab Network for NGO Development and the Permanent Peace Movement.

-- Simon Goff, Executive Director

FilmAid Screenings in Jordan, 2015

Stand #WithSyria on Third Anniversary of Conflict