Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts Discuss "For Sama"
YOU CALL THIS "FOR SAMA." HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THIS FORMAT FOR YOUR DAUGHTER? >> I KNEW AT THE BEGINNING BUT WE WERE DISCOVERING THROUGH THE PROCESS THAT FOR TWO YEARS, WE FELT THAT EVERYTHING THROUGH THE MATERIAL WAS TELLING EVERYTHING THIS IS FOR SAMA. IT WAS LIKE A NATURAL CONVERSATION AS ANYONE AROUND THE WORLD, EVERYONE SPEAKS WITH OUR CHILD. AND SO KIND OF THE CONVERSATION, NATURAL ONE, WHICH TO US DREW THE MATERIAL ITSELF. FOR MY DAUGHTER AND -- YOU'VE SEEN IT TOO. >> IT WAS REALLY BREATHING THROUGH THE FOOTAGE, YEAH, THAT THAT WAS WHAT THE FOOTAGE WAS ABOUT AT HEART, WAS THE RELATIONSHIP. >> DID YOU MAKE A DECISION TO MAKE THAT AND TO KEEP GOING BACK AND FORTH? BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT THE TRAILER AND OBVIOUSLY WE'VE SEEN YOUR REPORTAGE THROUGH THE WAR, IT IS RELENTLESSLY REALLY DARK. IT'S A TERRIBLE WAR, THE SIEGE OF ALEPPO WAS A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE THING, THE BODIES PILED UP. WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU HAD TO TAKE ALL HER FOOTAGE AND MAKE IT PALATABLE? >> WELL, YOU KNOW, THE THING THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLE ABOUT WHAT THIS WOMAN ACHIEVED AND WHAT SHE MANAGED TO FILM WAS THE FACT THAT HER FOOTAGE, THROUGHOUT THE HUGE ARCHIVE WHEN I SAW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, I SAW THE FULL FETCH OF HUMAN LIFE IN THIS KIND OF CONFLICT SITUATION. THE HORROR WAS THERE, THE HUMAN SUFFERING AS YOU TALKED ABOUT, BUT ALSO SO MUCH JOY, SO MUCH ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF PEOPLE IN THESE KIND OF SITUATIONS. IT WAS MORE JUST TRYING TO SAY, LIKE, THERE WAS SO MUCH, HOW CAN WE SQUEEZE ALL OF THIS LIGHT THAT WAS IN THE FOOTAGE, IN THE ARCHIVES, AND CONTAIN IT IN A MANAGEABLE FORM FOR THE CINEMA? >> SO IN THE OPENING SORT OF NARRATION OF YOURS, YOU SAY I MADE THIS FILM FOR YOU, ADDRESSING YOUR DAUGHTER, I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHY ME AND YOUR FATHER MADE THE CHOICES THAT WE DID, WHAT WE WERE FIGHTING FOR. WHAT WERE YOU FIGHTING FOR? I MEAN, YOU THEN LATER ON IN THE FILM YOU SAY WILL YOU FORGIVE ME FOR STAYING AND IN FACT FOR LEAVING? >> YES. WE HAVE FEARS OF STAYING ALL THE TIME ABOUT OUR STORY WOULD NOT BE TOLD IN OUR VOICES. WE WERE ALL LIKE AGAINST THE -- TRYING TO JUST DESTROY THE DREAMS THAT WE HAVE OF FREEDOM AND OF DIGNITY. AND LIKE WE WERE EVERY PARENT IN SYRIA. EVERYONE WHO LIVED THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR AND TWO YEARS OF THE DEMONSTRATION. WE THOUGHT MAYBE THIS WILL NOT BE REALLY REACHED TO THE NEXT GENERATION. IN ONE PART OF THIS, I WANTED TO TELL HER ABOUT HOW WE STARTED THE SOLUTION AND WHY.
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