Documentary backdrop image for Yemen - kids and the war (2018)

201843 minPGdocumentary

Conflict Human Trafficking

Yemen - kids and the war

201843 minPGdocumentary

In Yemen, children Ahmed, Rima, and Youssef share their harrowing experiences of living amidst the devastating conflict that has plagued their country since 2015.

Conflict Human Trafficking

Genres

Channel: DW Documentary

Yemen - kids and the war

2018• 43 minPG

Synopsis

In Yemen, children Ahmed, Rima, and Youssef share their harrowing experiences of living amidst the devastating conflict that has plagued their country since 2015.

Synopsis

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating conflict since 2015, as a Saudi-led coalition battles Houthi rebels. The war has resulted in widespread displacement and famine, severely affecting millions. Filmmaker Khadija Al-Salami presents the stories of three children-Ahmed, 11, Rima, 8, and Youssef, 9-who articulate their daily realities amid the chaos. Their narratives illuminate the profound impact of the ongoing war on young lives, offering a rare perspective on the challenges faced by children in Yemen.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Yemen's civil war: children on the brink of starvation (2017)

Yemen's civil war: children on the brink of starvation

Yemen's civil war, marked by Houthi rebels fighting the Saudi-led coalition, has resulted in severe food shortages and widespread malnutrition among children.

Yemen's civil war: children on the brink of starvation

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage (2021)

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage

Over 130,000 Yemenis have died in a conflict that has lasted six years, with children increasingly caught in the crossfire.

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage

Syria's Stolen Children (2026)

Syria's Stolen Children

In Syria, thousands of children of dissidents have been forcibly taken and placed in orphanages under false identities, with Asma el-Assad implicated in this systematic crime.

Syria's Stolen Children

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War (2025)

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War

Yemen’s Dirty War highlights the humanitarian crisis affecting 21 million people since 2015.

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering (2023)

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering

Yemen suffers after seven years of war, with 21 million people affected by the Houthis' control.

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? (2025)

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

In Yemen, the Houthi rebels engage in conflict over control and disrupt global trade, raising questions about their identity as terrorists or freedom fighters.

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

The Yemen Option - Yemen (2008)

The Yemen Option - Yemen

60 million firearms are distributed across Yemen, a country of only 20 million people, complicating efforts to combat terrorism.

The Yemen Option - Yemen

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia (2024)

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia

The Houthi movement rules northern Yemen, invoking the Prophet Mohammed and attacking Israel.

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia

Inside The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis (2019)

Inside The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis

An estimated 1.8 million children in Yemen are severely malnourished, with 85,000 children under five already thought to have died of starvation.

Inside The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis

The Child Soldiers caught up in Yemen-Saudi conflict (2022)

The Child Soldiers caught up in Yemen-Saudi conflict

Child soldiers in Yemen face dire consequences as over 2,500 leave school to fight.

The Child Soldiers caught up in Yemen-Saudi conflict

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison? (2025)

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison?

Mandaluyong City's Correctional Institution for Women, the oldest women's prison in the Philippines, houses over three thousand inmates amid strict security challenges.

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison?

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2020)

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

Modern-day slavery is exposed through firsthand accounts and expert analysis, revealing the harsh realities of human trafficking across nineteen countries.

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

Explore Yemen - kids and the war

Where else to watch

Cries from Syria (2017)

Cries from Syria

2017•1h52m•★7.2

Over 5 million Syrians have fled their homes due to the ongoing civil war, seeking safety and stability amid widespread violence and humanitarian crises.

Cries from Syria

Hunger Ward (2020)

Hunger Ward

2020•40m•★7.3

Two healthcare workers in Yemen treat malnourished children at therapeutic feeding centers amid a severe famine affecting millions.

Born in Gaza (2014)

Born in Gaza

2014•1h9m•★7.8

Children in Gaza recount their experiences of fear and loss while living through the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict and its humanitarian crisis.

Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege (2021)

Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege

2021•1h29m•★7.1

Footage recorded between 2013 and 2015 reveals daily life in Yarmouk refugee camp during the Syrian civil war and the severe siege imposed by government forces.

Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege

Death in Gaza (2004)

Death in Gaza

2004•1h20m•★5.8

Three children, Ahmed and Mohammed (both 12) and Najla (16), navigate life in Rafah during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while filmmaker James Miller is killed.

Karama Has No Walls (2012)

Karama Has No Walls

2012•26m•★6.3

Fifty-three peaceful protestors were killed by pro-government snipers on March 18, 2011, during Yemen's uprising, sparking widespread demonstrations.

Karama Has No Walls

Children of Shatila (1998)

Children of Shatila

1998•50m•★7.5

15,000 individuals live in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon, where two children document their daily struggles with displacement and poverty.

Children of Shatila

Yemen's Reluctant Revolutionary (2012)

Yemen's Reluctant Revolutionary

2012•1h10m•★7.7

Filmed over the course of a year, a tour guide in Sana'a shifts from supporting the President to joining protests amid Yemen's revolution.

Yemen's Reluctant Revolutionary

Browse more like this

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage (2021)

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage

Over 130,000 Yemenis have died in a conflict that has lasted six years, with children increasingly caught in the crossfire.

How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage

No digital watch option in your country

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War (2025)

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War

Yemen’s Dirty War highlights the humanitarian crisis affecting 21 million people since 2015.

Oil, Famine and Genocide - Inside Yemen's Forgotten War

No digital watch option in your country

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering (2023)

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering

Yemen suffers after seven years of war, with 21 million people affected by the Houthis' control.

Dirty War in Yemen: 7 Years of Cruelty, Famine and Suffering

No digital watch option in your country

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? (2025)

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

In Yemen, the Houthi rebels engage in conflict over control and disrupt global trade, raising questions about their identity as terrorists or freedom fighters.

Houthi Rebels in Yemen: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

No digital watch option in your country

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia (2024)

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia

The Houthi movement rules northern Yemen, invoking the Prophet Mohammed and attacking Israel.

Torn apart - Yemen in the grip of the Houthi militia

No digital watch option in your country

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison? (2025)

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison?

Mandaluyong City's Correctional Institution for Women, the oldest women's prison in the Philippines, houses over three thousand inmates amid strict security challenges.

Women Behind Bars in Philippines: How to Survive the Mandaluyong Prison?

No digital watch option in your country

Children (2020)

Children

2020•2h8m•★5.0

Five Palestinian children, aged 7 to 17, share their experiences of growing up under Israeli occupation, facing violence and daily confrontations.

The English Sheik and the Yemeni Gentleman (2000)

The English Sheik and the Yemeni Gentleman

2000•1h16m•★8.0

An Englishman has lived as a Yemeni in Sana'a for 16 years while a British filmmaker tours his ancestral homeland.

The English Sheik and the Yemeni Gentleman

Thailand Dreams (2016)

Thailand Dreams

Thailand's beaches attract Western men seeking relationships with Thai women, raising questions about love, exploitation, and the mail-order bride phenomenon.

Thailand Dreams

Gaza: The Killing Zone (2003)

Gaza: The Killing Zone

Daily violence in the Gaza Strip escalates as Dispatches reporter Sandra Jordan and producer Rodrigo Vasquez document the dangerous conditions on the ground.

Gaza: The Killing Zone

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →