Directors
Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts

Debutant filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab presents her documentary using the same narrative concept that Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau did with his most recent feature, 2040. Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2020 Academy Awards ® and winner of Best Documentary at BAFTA Awards, FOR SAMA is a love letter from mother to daughter that provides a first-hand account of ordinary civilian life during the five years of the uprising and violence in Aleppo, Syria.

Waad Al-Kateab’s story begins in 2012, when she was a student at Aleppo University at the start of protests against the government of Syria. Like several other activists at the time, Waad filmed the protests on her mobile phone without any plan to one day produce a feature documentary from her footage. The motivation for this only came when news broadcasters in Syria were making no mention of the atrocities occurring daily in Aleppo. As Waad’s fight for freedom of Syrian civilians continues for years, escalating every day, she is ultimately faced with an impossible choice – continue fighting at any cost for all that she has already sacrificed or abandoning the city and her home to protect the life of her daughter, Sama.

After watching this film, let me tell you that it’s a choice that certainly reads easier on paper than what it really is!

Though many images seen in this film are expectedly confronting and harrowing, FOR SAMA also importantly chronicles pure everyday laughter and happiness shared among its civilians and celebrates some of life’s key milestones. Some may question the decision to keep the camera recording (above all else) during a few of those truly harrowing moments, but full credit must be given to Waad Al-Kateab’s commitment and the direction she has chosen to take with what was once over 500 hours of footage. Her real-time work here showcases what can only be described as activism and journalism at its most perilous, bravest and truthful. It deserves any and all recognition it has been, and will hopefully continue receiving.

4 stars

Viewer Discretion
MA15+ (Strong themes and injury detail)

Trailer
FOR SAMA

Moviedoc thanks Umbrella Entertainment for the screener link to watch and review this film.

FOR SAMA is released in selected cinemas throughout Australia from 6th of February, 2020.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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