THE FILM
FOR SAMA is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her.
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.
The film is the first feature documentary by Emmy award-winning filmmakers, Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts.
FOR SAMA – PRODUCED BY CHANNEL 4 NEWS/ITN PRODUCTIONS FOR CHANNEL 4 AND FRONTLINE PBS.
HOW TO WATCH
Depending on where you are in the world, For Sama may be available to purchase / stream from one of the following:
FILMMAKER BIOS
For Sama is co-directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts. They have launched Action For Sama alongside the film release in order to demand urgent action from governments to end the targeting of healthcare facilities in Syria.
Waad Al-Kateab
Waad is a Syrian activist and award-winning filmmaker. She became a citizen journalist in 2011, after protests broke out across Syria against the Assad regime, and in January 2016 she began documenting the horrors of Aleppo for Channel 4 News in a series titled, “Inside Aleppo.”
Waad’s first feature documentary, For Sama, documented her life over five years in Aleppo. and has received worldwide critical acclaim, winning numerous awards, including Best Doc at the BAFTAs and a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.
Edward Watts
Edward Watts is an Emmy award-winning, BAFTA nominated filmmaker who has directed over twenty narrative and documentary films, telling true stories from far flung corners of the world.
His previous films include ‘Escape from ISIS’, which told the story of the brutal ISIS abduction of thousands of Yazidi women and the efforts of a few brave members of their community to save them, and his first narrative short film ‘Oksijan’, which told the incredible true story of a 7-year-old Afghan boy’s fight to survive as he is smuggled to the UK in a refrigerated lorry. ‘For Sama’ is his first feature documentary.
global FILM SALES + DISTRIBUTION
UK
US
INTERNATIONAL
DISTRIBUTORS by country
If you’d like to find out if/where For Sama is screening in your country, take a look through the list below and head to the distributor’s site.
If your country of residence is not on there, please keep checking as we will update this list as soon as the film is released in your area!
VIDEOS
Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts accept the award for Documentary for For Sama at the EE BAFTA film Awards 2020.
Waad and Hamza, along with director Edward Watts, tell broadcaster Jon Snow how they made a love letter to the al-Kateabs' daughter…
