FOR SAMA

Directors Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts in attendance

Framed as a video letter by a mother to her one-year-old daughter, FOR SAMA is both the story of one young family’s courageous struggle against the brutal Assad regime and a unique record of the Syrian War.

In 2012, as a student at Aleppo University, Waad al-Kateab joins the spreading protests against Assad and begins filming. Over the next five years, as the war rages, al-Kateab’s camera alternates between capturing the precious moments of “normal” life — love, marriage and the birth of a child — and documenting the increasingly desperate stages of the war. After the Russians join the battle for Aleppo, all will soon be lost. But, as the young family escapes into exile, this heartbreaking film stands as a testimonial of its enduring dreams of freedom. Winner of the Audience Award and Grand Jury Award in the SXSW Documentary Feature Competition. –Ken Jacobson