OSCARS 2020: For Sama (2019)

Every year, as I look at the slate of films the Academy Award has nominated for the Best Documentary category, I mentally prepare myself to be depressed. Though a light-hearted one will slip in occasionally, the Documentary category is usually dominated by heavy films about real world issues. This is probably how it should be, the Oscars existing as a way to bring attention to topics that need it the most. Yet I always have to get ready for some serious stuff. Such was the case with “For Sama,” a documentary that returns to the war torn Syrian city of Aleppo. (A nominee from a few years back, “Last Men in Aleppo,” was set in the same area and was certainly a difficult watch.) “For Sama” was exactly as tough a watch as I had been warned. Was it worth it?

Starting in 2012, citizen journalist Waad Al-Kateab started to document the growing revolution in Syria, against the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad. Using a simple handheld camera, she recorded the growing civil unrest and the violent government oppression. As the Syrian Civil War began, the city of Aleppo being regularly shelled by Russian forces, she began to record the daily tragedies and miracles occurring in the hospital her future husband worked in. In the middle of this fray, Waad gave birth to a daughter named Sama. She continued to record the daily conflict while raising her little girl. This documentary represents a personal statement to Sama, showing her what life was like in her home country at the time of her birth.

“For Sama” is probably among the most harrowing films I've ever seen. Al-Kateab's camera is down to the ground in Aleppo as the war break out. The film presents us with the horrors the Syrian citizens have had to withstand, never blinking. So you see dead bodies, as still fresh corpses of protesters – killed by government forces – are fished out of the river. Inside the hospital, we see victims of the bombings. Some are left bloodied and mangled while many do not survive. People scream, wounds bleed and weep, blood stains the floor. Most distressing, the camera more than once captures the bodies of children killed in the attacks. Mothers cradle the dead bodies of their sons, their hopes and dreams extinguished. These are not the kind of things anyone should have to live through and I often had to look away from “For Sama.”

Yet, despite the awful realities “For Sama” presents to the viewer, the movie is just as determined to capture the perseverance of humanity in such a dire situation. An especially distressing sequence depicts a pregnant woman giving birth after surviving a bombing. The doctors attempt to revive her seemingly lifeless infant, a moment so horrible I could barely watch... Before the baby starts to cry. The boy lived and so did his mother. In another, far more light-hearted moment, a friend of Waad surprises his mother with a persimmon fruit, which nearly brings her to tears. The family had been subsisting on bug-infested rice and boiled leeks up to that point. Equally inspiring is the commitment Waad and her husband have to helping the people of Aleppo. Watching their love and family grow is touching, as you see the joy and grace they can share with their child even while their city is plunged into unspeakable turmoil.

Since “For Sama” is built around hundreds of hours of footage Al-Kateab shot, it presents an interesting cinematic experience. Sequences of her rushing through a crowd as it descends into chaos, or desperately looking for her child in a bunker as bombs rain down overhead, are realer and more intense than any found footage horror movie. Seeing an exhausted Waad cowering over her daughter as airstrikes are heard near-by gives you a keen impression of what it must've been like to live through this. Sometimes the film cuts in other footage. There are drone shots of the ruined city, entire blocks being incinerated by falling explosives. Footage from a CTR camera depicts the nightly routine of a hospital disrupted by a massive explosion, the camera's point-of-view reduced to smoke and fire. Al-Kateab narrates the film, directly addressing Sama. Which makes this about as personal a testament as anyone could hope for.

Obviously, “For Sama” is not an easy film to watch. I wouldn't blame anyone for skipping this one. I kind of wish I had skipped it myself, as the movie showed me disturbing things I definitely did not want to see. Yet these events happened. They are still happening. (Despite several ceasefires being signed since 2016, the atrocities in Syria continue.) And as much as the film captures the horrors of war, it also shows how kindness and charity can survive even in the darkest of moments. This makes it a valuable experience. As for Waad Al-Kateab, her husband, and Sama, they eventually made it out of Aleppo and currently reside in the U.K. [8/10]