"The White Helmets" a 40-minute documentary about Saleh’s group of rescue workers in Syria, won the Academy Award in the documentary short-subject category.
"I did not expect us to win the award," Saleh told Reuters in an interview at the group’s office in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, on Monday (February 27).
"We consider this a new success - a success for all the Syrian people. It has opened a new door for our struggle to reach a different segment of people around the world."
Officially called the Syrian Civil Defence, but known by their distinctive white helmets, the group operates a rescue service in opposition-held parts of Syria, which have been subjected to fierce bombardment by the Assad and Russia’s air force that has seen whole city districts levelled.
The film offers a brief look into their harrowing work, as they rush into buildings soon after bomb blasts and dig through heavy rubble and dust for survivors. In one scene, a crying baby is pulled from the wreckage of a building after being trapped for hours.
"Syrian people have been portrayed as terrorists who are spreading all over the world, but this film presents a different image," Saleh said.
"This was the message we wanted to spread through the film: To say that people in Syria are not terrorists, but they are heroes capable of creating peace and that there are violations against civilians in Syria to which the perpetrators must be held accountable."
Bashar Assad has accused the group of being a front for al-Qaeda and of faking footage of the aftermath of air strikes for propaganda purposes.
Both Saleh and Khaled Khatib, a rescue worker who is also one of the film’s cameramen, were given visas by the United States to visit for the Oscars’ ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
However, Saleh was not be able to leave his work because of the high intensity of Assad airstrikes, while Khatib could not attend because Assad regime had cancelled his passport.
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