The Assad Government's Surreal "Summer in Syria" Campaign | Inside Assad's Syria | FRONTLINE

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By any measure, the past several months in Syria have been especially devastating.

The world watched as thousands of Syrians fled the fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and rebel forces. Meanwhile, despite U.S. airstrikes, ISIS seized even more territory across the country, even razing the ancient city of Palmyra.

But as FRONTLINE’s Martin Smith found when he journeyed inside government-controlled areas of Syria late this past summer, the regime and its allies were working hard to put on a good face.

One of their public relations efforts? A campaign called “Summer in Syria” promoting regime-sponsored art fairs, film festivals, and fashion shows — and urging Syrians to share their own experiences of summer inside the country on Twitter using the hashtag #SummerInSyria.

The campaign didn’t go exactly as planned, as an excerpt from "Inside Assad’s Syria" – FRONTLINE's 10/27 documentary – reveals.

Watch "Inside Assad's Syria" starting 10/27/15 at 10/9c at pbs.org/frontline & on your local PBS station.

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FRONTLINE is made possible by PBS and CPB. Major support is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Park Foundation, the John and Helen Glessner Family Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation and Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation.