Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Movies With A Message
Documentaries star in virtual film series
Alove letter from a young mother to her daughter, “For Sama” — the first feature documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts — tells the story of 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.
The film, which won the award for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize for International Feature Documentary at the Hot Docs Festival, has nothing to do with the covid-19 pandemic. But it has everything to do with compelling filmmaking, and that’s why it was chosen by the Arkansas Cinema Society as its offering for the Shelter-In-Place Virtual Film Series.
“It was very organic,” Kathryn Tucker, executive director of the Arkansas Cinema Society, describes the film series that began last Sunday. “I guess the only theme was that we wanted to highlight social justice issues. That’s really the aim of the other organizations we’re partnering with.”
The virtual film series — virtual in that it is taking place online — includes one film each from the presenting organizations. Tucker says in the absence of so much missing arts programming, “ACS is grateful to be in the unique position to continue to provide programming to Arkansans and our audience.”
The first film, “True Conviction,” presented by the Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement, had more than 100 viewers from 10 states, Tucker says. Each screening will offer some kind of connection with the filmmakers, including a Q&A with al-Kateab after “For Sama.”
“We are also partnering with the Syrian Emergency Task Force on this screening,” Tucker explains. “Waad al-Kateab is one of the most
incredible women I have ever met. I saw the film and met her at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival — and when I met her, I just started weeping. But I am super-excited about the whole series. All of the organizations have powerful stories about why they chose their films.”
On the schedule are:
April 26 — “Meet the Patels”: A laugh-outloud real life romantic comedy about Ravi Patel, an almost 30-year-old Indian American who enters a love triangle with the woman of his dreams and his parents. Hosted by Arkansas Minority Film & Arts Association.
May 3 — “For Sama.”
May 10 — “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”: Filmmaker Catherine Bainbridge examines the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history. Hosted by Just Communities of Arkansas.
May 17 — “Music in Arkansas: Origins”: Tracks the development of Arkansas’ rich musical heritage from the discovery of a 200 BC Hopewell panpipe to King Biscuit Time hitting the airwaves in 1941 Helena. Hosted by Arkansas PBS.
May 24 — “College Behind Bars (Parts 1 & 2)”: A 2019 American television documentary series, directed by Lynn Novick, which focuses on the lives and academic careers of inmates in the Bard Prison Initiative. Hosted by Washitaw Foothills Youth Media Arts & Literacy Collective.
May 31 — “College Behind Bars (Parts 3 & 4).”