For Sama (2019)

For Sama (2019) / Country: Syria, United Kingdom, United States / Directors: Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts / Length: 100 min / Language: Arabic, English / Subtitles: Albanian, English / Entrance: FREE

This film is screened as a collaboration between Kino ARMATA and DokuFest.

For Sama is a first-person account of exactly what it means to live smack-bang in the middle of an active war zone. Told squarely from a female perspective, it also offers a viewpoint rarely seen in films about conflict. The film was written and produced by the protagonist, Waad Al-Kateab, who also co-directed the film with Edward Watts. The film focuses on Waad Al-Kateab's journey as a journalist and rebel in the Syrian uprising.

When she first starts to aimlessly film her country’s ongoing conflict that steadily grows in violence and complexity, al-Kateab is an optimistic, 26-year-old student armed with nothing but a cell phone at Aleppo University, studying to earn a business degree in 2012.

But as hope gave way to chaos, destruction and crimes against humanity committed by the regime and its allies, options started to thin out; revolution seemed like a distant fantasy. And yet, instead of leaving like many, al-Kateab decided to stay behind and fight for the better future she believed in.

This is Syria in 2016, with the Assad regime, supported by the Russian air force, indiscriminately pummelling Aleppo, hitting houses and hospitals alike. Waad moved here as a student several years earlier, full of hope for change. “For such a long time we were sure we would win,” she declares, a belief shared by the fellow activists caught on Waad’s mobile-phone footage.

Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much. 

For Sama made history when it was nominated in four categories in the BAFTA awards, making it the most nominated documentary ever. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards. FOR SAMA was awarded the Prix L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.