For Sama 2019

FOR SAMA is a deeply moving documentary presented as a heartfelt letter from Waad Al-Khateab, a 26-year-old mother from Syria, to her daughter, Sama. This poignant message is recorded during the harrowing final days of the battle for Aleppo. Living alongside Sama’s father, Hamza Al-Khateab, who works as a doctor in the last operational hospital within the beleaguered city, Waad faces the constant threat of death as their neighborhood is relentlessly bombarded by both the Syrian regime and the Russian air force. Fearing for their lives, Waad creates this filmed narrative, a crucial account for her one-year-old daughter to understand her parents’ journey and the reasons behind their relentless fight for freedom.

Waad’s narrative begins back in 2012, during her time as a marketing student at Aleppo University. Amid protests against the tyrannical rule of Bashar al-Assad, she becomes one of the early advocates for change. Armed with her camera, she documents the initial waves of hope that swept through the demonstrators. It is during this chaos that she meets Hamza Al-Khateab, a young medic. Together with their close friends, they persist in their pursuit of freedom, undeterred even as violence escalates and envelops their city.

The couple faces unthinkable dangers, navigating around snipers, airstrikes, and the horrific impact of barrel bombs, all of which they courageously capture on film. In a moment of love during adversity, Hamza proposes, and soon after they marry and move into their first home. Not long after, the couple is expecting a child—an experience that, although universally recognized, unfolds against the backdrop of a grim war.

The situation intensifies with the Russian intervention in September 2015, which exacerbates the conflict. Despite the pervasive fear, Waad and Hamza choose to remain resolute, fighting for their future and for that of their newborn daughter, Sama, who arrives on January 1, 2016, bringing with her a glimmer of hope amidst overwhelming darkness.

Sama’s early life consists of witnessing the turmoil as the battle for Aleppo reaches its zenith, filled with nightmarish atrocities from the regime aimed at annihilating the rebels. The couple’s world is shrouded in violence; Hamza’s hospital is repeatedly bombed, and they endure sieges and chemical attacks. Despite these horrors, the first year of Sama’s life is interspersed with moments of joy and laughter, as Waad and Hamza embrace the blessings of parenthood, drawing strength from their little girl.

Eventually, systemic violence forces them into exile. In a heartrending farewell, the family packs their belongings, shedding tears for the city that held their dreams of freedom, now shattered. Yet, they carry Sama with them—an enduring beacon of love and hope, a testament that the brutality of tyrants cannot extinguish the spirit of resilience.

FOR SAMA is an important film produced by Channel 4 News and ITN Productions for Channel 4 and FRONTLINE PBS. The filmmakers express a strong stance against labeling the conflict in Syria as a “civil war,” emphasizing the significant influence and intervention of external forces, particularly Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, in suppressing the popular uprising.