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For Sama

For Sama is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter as well as a filmmaker's self-portrait, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice – whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much. The film is the first feature documentary by Emmy award-winning filmmakers Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts.

Panel discussion after the film with Guadalupe Garcia, LPC, a behavior health specialist in the Trauma and Grief Center at Texas Children’s Hospital, Chaja Verveer, a child survivor of the Holocaust, Rasha Shammaa of the Future Beyond Charity, and moderated by Laurie Garcia, Associate Director of Education; Outreach at HMH.

Co-presented by the Holocaust Museum Houston
Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors’ legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, they teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy.

Country, Year Syrian Arab Republic, 2019
DirectorWaad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
WriterWaad al-Kateab
CastWaad al-Kateab
ProducerWaad al-Kateab
LanguageArabic, English Subtitles
Runtime96 MINS, 0 SECS
GenreDocumentary