At a Damascus air base once off-limits under Bashar al-Assad, a crew now films a TV series about the final months of the ousted leader's rule as seen through the eyes of a Syrian family.

"It's hard to believe we're filming here," director Mohamad Abdul Aziz said from the Mazzeh base, which was once also a detention centre run by Assad's air force intelligence branch, known for its cruelty

The site in the capital's southwestern suburbs "used to be a symbol of military power. Now we are making a show about the fall of that power", he told AFP.

Assad fled to Russia as an Islamist-led offensive closed in on Damascus, taking it without a fight on December 8 last year after nearly 14 years of civil war and half a century of Assad dynasty rule.

The scene at the Mazzeh base depicts the escape of a figure close to Assad, and is set to feature in "The King's Family" filmed in high-security locations once feared by regular Syrians.

The series is to be aired in February during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, prime-time viewing in the Arab world, when channels........

© Al Monitor