BBC, History plan Escape From Homs

BBC4 in the UK and History in the US have partnered on a new feature documentary based on Paul Conroy’s book Under the Wire, about the war in Syria.

Tom Brisley

UK indie Arrow Media will produce Escape From Homs with BBC4’s feature docs strand Storyville, History Films and the BFI.

Set to premiere in 2018, the doc is directed by Chris Martin (The War on Democracy) and produced by Tom Brisley at Arrow Media, in association with Vice Films.

The film will air on BBC4 and cablenet History in the US after its initial theatrical release.

Escape From Homs tells the story of journalist Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy who covered the plight of the residents of the Syrian city of Homs in 2012.

Colvin was killed when the international media centre was hit by Syrian Army artillery fire. The film focuses on what happened to Colvin and Conroy and on the latter’s dramatic escape.

Brisley, Arrow Media’s joint creative director, said: “This is a story that needs to be told. From the moment Chris first talked about it, I knew it was something Arrow had to be involved in, because telling compelling and important stories is at the heart of what we do.”