The story of Muhammed Faris, the first Syrian to go to outer space, to the Soviet Soyuz station. Despite being a national hero, with the advent of the current war in Syria he was forced to flee the country, as his ideas for a free Syria confronted him with Bashar al-Assad and made him a target of the regime.
Charles Emir Richards
He was born in 1969 in San Francisco to a Turkish mother and a North American father who grew up in both countries. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design with honors in film. Living in Los Angeles, he worked in the film industry doing camera and lighting work, as well as directing the second unit until 1997 when he started directing. Later he began directing commercials, which he continues to do to this day, winning several national and international honors with his work. Until recently he worked on documentary projects such as “No One”, the award-winning story of a Syrian sniper who uses traditional Turkish puppets. “The Syrian Cosmonaut” is his latest documentary effort that combines interviews with documentary images with Turkish miniature art.