A film celebrating the White Helmets - a volunteer rescue group that operates in rebel-held parts of Syria - has scooped an Oscar for best short documentary

The eponymously titled White Helmets, a 40-minute Netflix film, gives a window into lives of the group's volunteers as they scramble to pull people from the rubble of bombed out building flatted in bombing raids. On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that the United States had refused entry to Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib, who was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul the day before the awards. When asked about Khaled’s situation, US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Gillian Christensen told CNN: “A valid travel document is required for travel to the United States.”

‘I wish this war would stop’

In an interview with CNN before the Oscars, Khatib spoke of his hopes for Syria as well as his experiences working with the White Helmets. The statement went on to say that Khatib had planned to attend, but “was not able to travel to the Oscars due to his passport being cancelled by the Syrian regime, despite having been issued a US visa specifically to attend the awards ceremony.”

Later on Sunday, Khatib spoke with NBC News by phone, and said that Turkish officials had told him it was his visa that was canceled when he arrived at the airport on Tuesday.
The Netflix "documentary" The White Helmets, a film about the Syrian Civil War, wins the Best Documentary Short.The cinematographer Khaled Khatib who is himself a member of the rebel-aligned group couldn't attend the ceremony because officials from the Department of Homeland Security discovered "derogatory information" about him.