Aleppo has been all over the news recently, with the Assad finally regaining control of the whole city and the numerous atrocities that were reported there as a result of ISIS losing control and going mental about it. But it’s easy to forget that the city has been in a state of conflict for the last four years.

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The rebel uprising began in August 2012 and it was on that day that Syrian photographer Issa Touma awoke in his apartment to see it happening all around him. He spent the next nine days holed up in his flat, filming what was going on in the street below him from his window and eventually turning that into the harrowing short movie that you can see below.

It recently won the European Short Film Award at the European Film Awards and is quite the experience:

Yeah, that really does hit home about what it would be like to stuck in the middle of such a terrifying situation. I can’t imagine not leaving my apartment for nine days – especially if I didn’t have any food – because I was so scared about what might happen if I did.

It’s great that Aleppo seems to have finally been liberated, but the fact is the city has lost four years and it’s probably going to take even longer until it really does get back on its feet. Awful.

For more Aleppo, check out these ten before and after shots of the city that show how truly fucked the place is. Heartbreaking.