‘For Sama’ reveals the true horror and fleeting beauty of life in Aleppo

For more than five years, Waad al-Kateab and her husband Hamza risked their lives to film inside a war-stricken hospital in Aleppo. Against all odds, they’re still alive. They talk to Stephen Applebaum

Thursday 29 August 2019 16:45 BST
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Sama holds a placard in east Aleppo in response to US presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s gaffe ‘What’s Aleppo’
Sama holds a placard in east Aleppo in response to US presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s gaffe ‘What’s Aleppo’

When Waad al-Kateab used her mobile phone to film anti-Assad protests at her university in Aleppo, the burgeoning revolution, galvanised by the wave of popular unrest sweeping through the Middle East, looked like the beginning of a new era for Syrians. Getting to this point hadn’t been easy in a country where opposing the regime could result in imprisonment, beatings and death. At last, though, it felt like people power might loosen president Bashar al-Assad’s stranglehold, bringing the dignity and freedom citizens longed for within reach.

“We were very optimistic that we could change not just our life in Syria,” al-Kateab tells me, in a bright and cavernous dining area at ITN’s HQ in London, “but change the world, and do amazing things. Unfortunately,” she adds, with the understatement of someone who has seen more horror than most of us can imagine, “everything went the wrong way”.

Growing up, al-Kateab had dreamed of becoming a journalist. Her parents, though, pointed out the difficulty of doing the job in a country like Syria, and she opted to study economics and marketing instead. In 2011, she joined the demonstrations, and quickly became a version of what she’d always wanted to be.

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