For Sama

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of director 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. “[The film] is hard-hitting and graphic—some scenes cause you to look away. Yet it’s also loving and warm, a remarkable blend of reporting, cinema verité and essay not to be missed... [it is] made with the instincts of a journalist, the passion of a revolutionary and the beating heart of a mother.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

For Sama was awarded the Prix L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It also won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize for International Feature Documentary at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto. Currently nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar.

Cosponsored with the Dept of NES, the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, and the Einaudi Center for International Studies.

website: forsamafilm.com