“A Record for All of History of What Our Lives Were Like, and What We Went Through”: Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts on For Sama

Nabbing this year’s top doc prize at Cannes (as well as at SXSW), For Sama is a harrowing, on-the-ground look at the disintegration of a society through one young woman’s eyes. That woman, Waad Al-Kateab, also happens to be the film’s co-director (along with Emmy Award-winning, BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Edward Watts). Incredibly, and courageously, as her beloved city of Aleppo came under attack by Syrian forces, Al-Kateab decided to pick up a camera and create a heartfelt record — or rather “love letter” — to her unborn daughter Sama. What she captured was not just the clear-eyed reality of losing friends (both to bombs and emigration) on a regular basis, but also her own personal secrets to survival: love, marriage, and of course, motherhood.

Prior to the doc’s theatrical premiere (July 26th in NY and LA), Filmmaker spoke with Al-Kateab and Watts about the surprising journey their film took from war zone to the south of France.

To read my interview with the duo visit Filmmaker magazine.