Syria's 'hero boy' video a fake

It was a miracle apparently captured on a cellphone video. More than five million people have so far watched a YouTube clip showing a young Syrian boy brave sniper fire to rescue a girl frozen with fear beneath a car.

Now, a group of Norwegian film makers have admitted what many suspected all along: the film is a fake, shot with actors and Syrian refugees in Malta.

Lars Klevberg, a director based in Oslo, said he had put together the scene based on TV news footage of the conflict in Syria. He wanted to highlight the plight of children in warzones.

"If I could make a film and pretend it was real, people would share it and react with hope," he told the BBC.

"We shot it in Malta in May this year on a set that was used for other famous movies like Troy and Gladiator.

"The little boy and girl are professional actors from Malta. The voices in the background are Syrian refugees living in Malta."

The film appears to show the boy being shot before getting back to his feet to complete the rescue - a detail that led some viewers to question its authenticity while more credulous types concluded he had faked his own death to avoid the sniper.

It received funding from the Norwegian Film Institute and the Arts Council Norway, and the makers have denied it was a cynical attempt to get headlines. They said they were always clear about their intentions.

"The children surviving gunshots was supposed to send small clues that it was not real," John Einar Hagen, the producer, told the BBC. "We had long discussions with the film's financiers about the ethics around making a film like this."