For Sama directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts has won the VPRO IDFA Audience Award the grand public prize of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
The winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award is determined by festival visitors who, after an IDFA film screening, rank their appreciation for the film by way of a voting card.
For Sama is the first documentary by 26-year-old citizen journalist Waad al-Kateab. In the film, she dedicates the film to her newborn daughter: “I need you to understand why your father and I made the choices we did, what we were fighting for.”
With a simple digital camera, al-Kateab documents the Syrian uprising against Assad in the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, from the first moments of the uprising through to the forced evacuation at the end of 2016.
This year 166 films were in the race for the Audience Award. In total 27,812 people voted, resulting in the following Top 10:
- For Sama 9,680
- The Cave 9,573
- Collective 9,417
- They Call Me Babu 9,314
- Honeyland 9,307
- Midnight Traveler 9,292
- Objector 9,278
- The Euphoria of Being 9,196
- Máxima 9,134
- Our Time Machine 9,091