Rent For Sama (2019)
4.2 of 5 from 195 ratings
1h 35min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- "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, 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.
- Actors:
- Waad Al-Khateab, Hamza Al-Khateab, Sama Al-Khateab, Taima Al-Khateab, Dana Abed, Tia Alkerdi, Yara Ibrahim, Afra, Salim, Wisam, Zain, Naya
- Directors:
- Waad Al-Khateab, Edward Watts
- Producers:
- Waad al-Kateab
- Others:
- Edward Watts, Waad al-Kateab
- Studio:
- Channel 4
- Genres:
- Documentary, Special Interest
- Awards:
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Reviews (9) of For Sama
Extraordinary window into the horrors of civil war - For Sama review by CP Customer
The first review on here, by "PV" is simply ignorant.
At no point in 'For Sama' is there any endorsement of Islamic fundamentalism in general or of ISIL in particular. We see the beginnings of the opposition to the Assad regime during the Arab Spring. ISIL did not hi-jack the freedom movement in Aleppo: they were present as one of many anti-Assad groups but chose to leave early on in order to help set up their disastrous caliphate.
It's a shame that such an excellent documentary should be the subject of such an ignorant attack by PV.
This is above all else a timeless document of humane values fighting to survive in the most extreme conditions of inhumanity. It puts the focus where it should be, on the children irreparably damaged by war and sectarian violence.
The honest self-questioning by Waad al-Kateab gives the film an ongoing resonance.
4 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
A powerful film that will linger in your memory - For Sama review by Darius
A passionate, powerful, heart-breaking documentary that doesn't pull its punches. It conveys in horrible detail the anguish faced by those who chose to stay behind in Aleppo and endure constant bombardment (cluster bombs, barrel bombs etc etc) from Assad's regime and his Russian allies. You constantly see helicopters lurking overhead, knowing they will be dropping some horrible explosive device onto the innocent men, women and children below (clearly no ground-air defence whatsoever) but not knowing onto whose apartment/hospital it will fall. You learn how the regime deliberately targeted hospitals to reduce morale and that the only reason for the survival of the second hospital created by the director's doctor husband was that it was makeshift and appeared on no map. You see the incredible courage of those who stayed behind - particularly of the director and her husband - and feel shame at the inaction of our government and others in responding to these atrocities. A film that you are unlikely ever to forget - and neither should you.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
A Love Letter Written in the Rubble - For Sama review by griggs
I went into For Sama knowing little beyond its reputation as a documentary from the Syrian civil war. What I didn’t expect was how personal it would feel—less reportage that a whispered letter between mother and daughter. It isn’t a film about Sama so much as one made for her, and watching it, I often felt like and interloper, eavesdropping on a message never meant for me.
When the credits rolled and the list of collaborators appeared, the film’s purpose shifted. This wasn’t just a private record of survival; it was a memoir, and open letter to Sama—and anyone willing to bear witness. Waad Al-Kateab’s camera moves between tenderness and terror, capturing life in Aleppo with quiet, devastating clarity.
It’s raw, humane, and often overwhelming, but that’s it spell. What begins as one mother’s message to her child becomes a collective act of remembrance—proof that even amid ruin, love insists on being seen.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.