The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival writes: "Shot in Damascus months after the outbreak of the 2011 insurgency, under a shroud of secrecy and at great risk to the crew, Ladder to Damascus is a searing drama that weaves fiction and documentary with elements of the fantastical. In a century-old home in the center of the city, 12 young Syrians from across the country rent rooms, having moved to the capital in pursuit of studies or professional ambition after the insurgency broke out in the countryside. Huddled within the confines of the elegant house as the uprising gradually erupts in the city, they can no longer ignore the calls for freedom. Ladder to Damascus is a captivating window into the psyche of ordinary Syrians grappling with a historic upheaval, directed by a man credited as being the first auteur of Syrian cinema."