‘For Sama’ Director Waad al-Kateab on Turkish-Syrian Earthquake Doc ‘Death Without Mercy’: ‘These People Didn’t Die Just From a Natural Disaster’
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent On Feb. 6, 2023, after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkish-Syrian border, becoming the deadliest disaster in the region’s modern history, Syrian director Waad Al-Kateab was in London fretting about her family and friends, and feeling helpless.
The activist and helmer of “For Sama” – the Oscar-nominated civil war diary that traveled around the world – was unable to reach the stricken area, having fled the Bashar Assad regime.
But she immediately reached out to people on the ground, including her friends Fadi Al Halabi, a cinematographer on Oscar-winning short “The White Helmets,” and Fuad Sayed Issa, founder of Syrian refugee-led humanitarian group Violet.
Shortly thereafter Al-Kateab got a call from prominent producer Sheila Nevins. This led to her directing “Death Without Mercy” the powerful observational doc from MTV Documentary Films that premiered at Sheffield DocFest in June.
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