For Sama is one of the most unique and important films I have ever been involved in.

Working with the two directors Ed Watts, and Waad Al-Kateab who filmed, produced and lived through the uprising, I felt this extraordinary responsibility to do the film and Waad’s life story justice, to tell the story in the most true and authentic way possible.

Being involved in the edit for 18 months writing from a very early stage, I wrote a huge amount of music with a sound palette encompassing electronics, sound design, and orchestral elements with a touch of ethnicity.

I must have watched the harrowing scenes thousands of times, and still find it incredibly emotional to watch; the footage has an incredible force, emotion and humanity to it that transcends all barriers.

As the edit progressed and the film evolved and changed narrative direction, there was much soul searching to find the musical heart of the film. On one level the music had to capture the onslaught of angst, fear, tragedy, hope and feeling of pathos that was prevalent. To begin with, it was very rich and cinematic.

However, when the focal point of the story became Sama, Waad’s young daughter, everything clicked into place. We realised that the relationship between a mother and her daughter would help us understand what it means to be human in extreme situations and musically that’s what we had to bring out, the tenderness of that humanity.

As the epic historical events unfold, the music supports Waad’s journey in a very subtle, minimalist and poignant way. The scenes are so powerful that we kept stripping the music back to the point where at times, the music feels at one with the sound scape.

I used the Syrian violin performed by Alaa Arsheed, a Syrian violinist living as a refugee in Italy. The edginess and soulfulness of his playing perfectly captured the aching heart of the film.

We feel the student protestors hope represented by the solo gritty edgy violin playing. Its only when we reach the end of the film that the music is allowed to truly lead. The piece has personal significance for Waad as it has elements based on a Syrian folk song that she grew up with as a child.

Despite the minimalism and what may feel like a sparse score, the placement of every note and beat has a huge significance in not over manipulating or ‘over-selling’ the story-telling but supporting the film – like the moment when Hamza is by Waad’s side in hospital and they hold hands or the piano theme following the birth scene.

I integrated the piano, violin and cello for intimate emotional themes such as ‘Sama Is Born’ which has an innocent, plaintive quality that echoes the yearning for hope and peace.

‘Leaving Home’ – the scene where they escape towards the end of the film has a universal quiet defiance and determination that represents the strength of the community in Aleppo.

The tenderness of ‘The Miracle Baby’ counterpoints the tragic and shocking events of the film culminating in a bitter sweet, much needed emotional release of strings, while the hypnotic hand percussion of ‘Who’s Got Sama’ opens the film where Sama is lost, amongst the chaos of the hospital bombing, stirring anxiety and unsettled tension.

Musicians:

Syrian Violin: Alaa Arsheed

Violin: Sophie Ryan

Cello: Matt Hawken

PRS FOR MAGAZINE

BROADCAST MAGAZINE FEATURE INTERVIEW

“Because the subject matter is so raw… the last thing you need is a score that over states things because the situation is so dramatic, so horrifying…there is hope and light in there as well. But what it really needs is a sensitive score and I think that’s absolutely what ND has done brilliantly…For Sama is one of the most powerful films I’ve seen in a very long time and It’s terrific just how understated and sensitive the score is.”

Mark Kermode, Scala Radio Film Music Radio Show

"With footage as raw and dramatic as this, it’s a credit to composer Nainita Desai that her score remains restrained and understated throughout, emphasising subtler themes of endurance and empathy, while gesturing gently toward the possibility of hope – of love – even in the midst of tragedy"
Mark Kermode, The Guardian

The music…subtly underscores the desperation of the situation, never manipulating the audience but softly guiding us through Al-Khataeb’s journey.

The Wire

"The sound of fighter jets and war airplanes provide a constant unnerving soundtrack, while Nainita Desai’s score is carefully used throughout without intruding on the meaning of the images being shown."

Digital FX Film Review

The Score is sobering in its tempo and tonality , it’s instrumental palette portraying through their evocative timbres the disconsolate experiences of the characters.

It’s melancholy but it’s also spiced with colors of determination through the clear, familiar tones of a grand piano in tracks like “Student Protests” and especially “Remain Strong”, which resonated universally with meaning and clarity.

Desai’s music is absorbing in it’s sonic texture as well as the emotive substance woven into it’s orchestration and melodic character.

Randall D Larson, Buy Soundtrax

“Superb scorefor Syrian conflict documentary. Touching and spirited, yet laced with dissonance. Lovely emotional theme juxtaposed against tense and urgent dramatic piece, often surrealism takes over. Beautifully heartfelt”

Charlie Brigden IFMCA Critic

The music for this film plays a very big part, it supports every scenario and elevates certain situations giving them even more power and overall impact…with FOR SAMA [Nainita] does not disappoint one bit, This is a wonderfully vibrant and atmospheric work, the composer creating delicate and emotive musical nuances and passages throughout. The compositions and the orchestrations are at times mesmeric and alluring, but the score given the subject matter also contains its fair quota of more dramatically led themes and cues.

On listening to the score, I am certain this is a fusion of conventional instrumentation and electronic or synthesised elements, which really work well together, both mediums complimenting and giving support to each other. One of my favourite cues is SAMA IS BORN, which is a simple but highly affecting piece, the composer utilising piano, that is supported by strings and electronic underscore, which eventually subsides and leads into solo piano which is joined by a sorrowful but tender sounding cello and violin performances, it is a poignant and totally enveloping composition, which just captures the listeners attention and never lets it go. The same can be said for the cue THE MIRACLE BABY, filled with emotion and a melancholy atmosphere, which converts into a beautiful and haunting theme for piano and strings that introduce and accompany solo violin, which purveys an aura of fragility. Please check this score out, it is a varied and powerful work, which deserves every accolade.

John Mansell, Movie Music International

"One of the most important films you will ever see in your life."
*****

The Times

"certainly one of the most essential films of the year"

The Filmstage

"The single most heart-wrenchingly honest film you have ever seen."

Film Threat

"A very powerful, personal documentary... It's a rare female perspective in a war zone."

Wendy Mitchell - Screen Daily

"Hardcore current affairs reporting and intimate personal testimony merge to compelling effect in For Sama"

Screen Daily

"Simple in concept, shattering in execution…a ragged, remarkable act of cinematic witnessing"

Variety

"One of the most remarkable films ever made about the Syrian uprising"

The Hollywood Reporter

"Hugely impressive… powerful stuff"

Cineuropa

"With For Sama, which screened on Wednesday as part of Cannes’ Special Screenings lineup, directors Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts do find something new to say by taking a very simple, very personal approach."

The Wrap

"For Sama is a harrowing experience and certainly one of the most essential films of the year"

The Filmstage

"harrowing and essential"

The Filmstage

"It will be difficult to find a piece of work at the Cannes Film Festival that is more emotionally devastating and depressingly timely than Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts’s award-winning documentary, For Sama … the film brings the heartbreaking conflict in Syria, and the resilience and suffering of its people, to the screen with such immediacy and force that you stagger away at the end feeling drained and enraged, but also inspired."

The National AE

"A harrowing yet tender love story. Gorgeous, moving filmmaking."

SXSW Grand Jury Judge

"for its unflinching lens on the horrors of war, accompanied by a tender portrait of a young family born out of conflict, and the courageous community that surrounds them."

Hot Docs Special Jury Prize