FOR SAMA

For Sama is an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. Over five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria, Waad al-Kateab falls in love, gets married and gives birth to her daughter Sama, while the conflict around her grows increasingly devastating. Through her camera, she captures stories of loss, laughter and survival as she faces an impossible choice: whether to leave Aleppo to protect her daughter or remain and continue the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Directed by Waad Al Kateab Edward Watts
Screenplay Waad Al Kateab Edward Watts
Cast Waad Al Kateab Hamza Al Kateab Sama Al Kateab
Music Nainita Desai
Cinematography Waad Al Kateab Edward Watts
Editing Chloe Lambourne Simon McMahon
Production Companies PBS Frontline Channel 4
SXSW Film Festival
2019 | Documentary Feature Competition — World Premiere
Grand Jury Award — Best Documentary
Audience Award — Best Documentary
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
2019 | International Spectrum
Special Jury Prize — International Documentary
Cannes Film Festival
2019 | Special Screening
L’Œil d’Or — Best Documentary
Sheffield Doc/Fest
2019 | Official Selection
Audience Award — Best Documentary
Special Mention — Grand Jury Award
RiverRun International Film Festival
2019 | Documentary Competition
Jury Prize — Best Cinematography, Documentary Feature
Biografilm Festival — Bologna
2019
Best Film — Unipol Award
Audience Award
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
2019
Grand Jury Prize — Best Documentary Feature
Carthage Film Festival
2019 | Feature Documentary Competition
Tanit d’Argent — Feature Documentary
Durban International Film Festival
2019
Best Documentary
Amnesty International Human Rights Award — Best Film
Filmfest München
2019
Bayern 2 & Süddeutsche Zeitung Audience Award
Bergen International Film Festival
2019
Checkpoints Award
Guanajuato International Film Festival
2019
Best International Documentary Feature
Gimli Film Festival
2019
Honourable Mention — Grand Jury Prize
Nantucket Film Festival
2019
Documentary Feature Audience Award
Hamptons International Film Festival
2019
Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict and Resolution
Heartland International Film Festival
2019
Best Documentary Feature
Richard D. Propes Social Impact Award
Calgary International Film Festival
2019
Audience Choice Award — International Documentary
Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival
2019
Municipality of Bitola Award — Best Documentary
War on Screen
2019
Grand Jury Prize
Audience Award
Telluride Mountainfilm Festival
2019
Norman Vaughan Indomitable Spirit Award
Traverse City Film Festival
2019
Grand Prize for Best Film
Lighthouse International Film Festival
2019
Audience Award — Best Documentary
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
2019
Documentary Audience Award
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
2019
Audience Choice Award
Milwaukee Film Festival
2019
Documentary Jury Award — Best Documentary
Mohamed Amin Courage in Filmmaking Award
Newport Beach Film Festival
2019
Best Documentary
Antena Documentary Film Festival
2019
Best Film — co-winner
Galway Film Fleadh
2019
Best International Feature
Best Human Rights Film
Antenna Documentary Film Festival
2019
Best Film — co-winner
Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival
2019
Main Award
MedFilm Festival — Rome
2019
Best Film
Amnesty International Award
FrontDoc — Festival del Cinema di Frontiera
2019
Youth Jury Award
DocsMX — Mexico City
2019
Special Mention — Critics’ Choice Women on Frame Award
Ajyal Youth Film Festival
2019
Best Film Award — Bader Competition
DOC NYC
2019
Special Recognition for Courage in Filmmaking
IDFA — International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
2019 | Best of Fests
VPRO IDFA Audience Award
Arabisches Filmfestival Tübingen
2019
Audience Award
Quebec City International Film Festival
2019
College Jury Prize
AJB DOC — Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival
2019 | Official Selection
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival
2019 | Official Selection
Melbourne International Film Festival
2019 | Official Selection
New Zealand International Film Festival
2019 | Official Selection
British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)
2019
Best British Independent Film
Best Documentary
Best Director — Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts
Best Editing — Chloe Lambourne & Simon McMahon
European Film Awards
2019
Best European Documentary
International Documentary Association Awards
2019
Best Feature Documentary
Courage Under Fire Award — Waad al-Kateab
Cinema Eye Honors
2020
Outstanding Achievement in Production
BAFTA Awards
2020
Best Documentary
Nominations: Best British Film; Best Film Not in the English Language; Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Academy Awards — Oscars
2020
Nomination: Best Documentary Feature
Grierson Awards
2020
Best Cinema Documentary
International Emmy Awards
2020
Best Documentary
Peabody Awards
2020
Best Documentary
Guldbagge Awards
2021
Best Foreign Film

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