14 November 2014
Last updated at 15:16 ET
Lars Klevberg, a 34-year-old film director based in Oslo,
wrote a script after watching news coverage of the conflict in Syria. He
says he deliberately presented the film as reality in order to generate
a discussion about children in conflict zones.
"If I could make a film and pretend it was real, people would share it and react with hope," he said. "We shot it in Malta in May this year on a set that was used for other famous movies like Troy and Gladiator," Klevberg said. "The little boy and girl are professional actors from Malta. The voices in the background are Syrian refugees living in Malta."
Were they comfortable making a film that potentially deceived millions of people? "I was not uncomfortable," Klevberg said. "By publishing a clip that could appear to be authentic we hoped to take advantage of a tool that's often used in war; make a video that claims to be real. We wanted to see if the film would get attention and spur debate, first and foremost about children and war. We also wanted to see how the media would respond to such a video."
The crew filming the video in Malta
In fact the film received funding from the Norwegian Film
Institute (NFI) and the Audio and Visual Fund from Arts Council Norway
in October 2013. The filmmakers say their application for funding made
clear they wanted to upload the film to the internet without making it
obvious it was real or fiction. They also claim that those who financed
it were aware of, and supported, these intentions.
"The children surviving gunshots was supposed to send small clues that it was not real," said producer John Einar Hagen. "We had long discussions with the film's financiers about the ethics around making a film like this."
"It was not a cynical way to get attention. They had honest motivations," Ase Meyer, short film commissioner for the NFI told BBC Trending. "I was surprised people thought it was real. When I see the film, the little boy is shot but he keeps on running. There is no blood on the child." The NFI awarded 280,000 kroner (£26,480) towards its production. "It was a really low budget film," says Ms Meyer. "People normally apply for more money."
However, when Ms Meyer heard that the film was online she contacted the filmmakers to encourage them to reveal it was fiction. When asked if the NFI had a responsibility to tell people the film wasn't real, Ms Meyer said "It was the responsibility of the filmmakers".
A group shot of the film crew in Malta
So once the film was made, how did it go viral? "It was posted to our YouTube account
a few weeks ago but the algorithm told us it was not going to trend,"
Klevberg said. "So we deleted that and re-posted it." The filmmakers say
they added the word "hero" to the new headline and tried to send it out
to people on Twitter to start a conversation. It was then picked up by
Shaam Network, a channel that features material from the Middle East,
which posted it on YouTube. Then it began to attract international attention.
Since being uploaded to YouTube on Monday the video has been watched more than five million times and inspired thousands of comments. There has been a big debate about whether it is genuine. How those viewers will react to learning that it's a work of fiction remains to be seen. "We are really happy with the reaction," Klevberg said. "It created a debate."
Reporting by Anne-Marie Tomchak and Charlotte McDonald
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending
All our stories are at bbc.com/trending
#BBCTrending: Syrian 'hero boy' video faked by Norwegian director
TO SEE VIDEO:
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-30057401
Millions of YouTube viewers have been captivated by the 'Syrian hero boy'
who manages to rescue a little girl while under gunfire. Now a group of
Norwegian filmmakers have told BBC Trending they are behind it. They
say it was filmed on location in Malta this summer with the intention of
being presented as real.
"If I could make a film and pretend it was real, people would share it and react with hope," he said. "We shot it in Malta in May this year on a set that was used for other famous movies like Troy and Gladiator," Klevberg said. "The little boy and girl are professional actors from Malta. The voices in the background are Syrian refugees living in Malta."
Were they comfortable making a film that potentially deceived millions of people? "I was not uncomfortable," Klevberg said. "By publishing a clip that could appear to be authentic we hoped to take advantage of a tool that's often used in war; make a video that claims to be real. We wanted to see if the film would get attention and spur debate, first and foremost about children and war. We also wanted to see how the media would respond to such a video."
The crew filming the video in Malta
"The children surviving gunshots was supposed to send small clues that it was not real," said producer John Einar Hagen. "We had long discussions with the film's financiers about the ethics around making a film like this."
"It was not a cynical way to get attention. They had honest motivations," Ase Meyer, short film commissioner for the NFI told BBC Trending. "I was surprised people thought it was real. When I see the film, the little boy is shot but he keeps on running. There is no blood on the child." The NFI awarded 280,000 kroner (£26,480) towards its production. "It was a really low budget film," says Ms Meyer. "People normally apply for more money."
However, when Ms Meyer heard that the film was online she contacted the filmmakers to encourage them to reveal it was fiction. When asked if the NFI had a responsibility to tell people the film wasn't real, Ms Meyer said "It was the responsibility of the filmmakers".
A group shot of the film crew in Malta
Since being uploaded to YouTube on Monday the video has been watched more than five million times and inspired thousands of comments. There has been a big debate about whether it is genuine. How those viewers will react to learning that it's a work of fiction remains to be seen. "We are really happy with the reaction," Klevberg said. "It created a debate."
Reporting by Anne-Marie Tomchak and Charlotte McDonald
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending
All our stories are at bbc.com/trending
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