VRT NWS grabs prestigious AIB press award for an in-depth documentary about two Syrian refugees

Two young Syrians from Ghent, Salah Jaradeh and his girlfriend Turkieh Allour, originally fled the regime of the dictator President Assad. Each one of them had experienced some horrific things. Through trial and error, Salah then built a new future in our country. When the murderous Assad regime was overthrown in late 2024, Salah and Turkieh harboured hopes of seeing the situation in their home country for themselves with their own eyes, a decade after fleeing Syria. This was not a straightforward thing to do, however, because that glimmer of hope was also accompanied by confusion and fear. Would their house still be standing? And their neighbourhood? More importantly, would their families have survived the horrors? Turkieh had not seen her mother for 15 years. The uncertainty gnawed away at them...

Inge Vrancken, a journalist for VRT NWS, intuitively sensed that a powerful and impactful documentary was in the offing. And the result exceeded expectations: a gripping and visually sublime portrait of the adventures and experiences of two Syrian refugees that also provided an insight into the bigger picture of life in Syria. Apparently, the jury of the Association for International Broadcasting in London thought the same and bestowed an AIB press award on this production by Inge Vrancken without batting an eyelid. An award that's more than deserved, in our view.