Int'l Migration Film Festival announces award winners

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JUNE 21: Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, For Sama won the Best Full Length Film award at Turkey's International Migration Film Festival on June 21, 2020. Celebrated Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, this year’s festival jury president, said that For Sama was selected unanimously for the award. “The Best Film Award of the International Migration Film Festival, which started with the idea of embracing one of the greatest tragedies of this age with its theme, went to a documentary film,” Ceylan said. For Sama, which also won awards for best documentary at several events -- including BAFTA, Cannes and the British Independent Film Awards -- tells the story of a young mother during the Syrian civil war. Al-Kateab said he lived in Turkey for over a year, and he was one of the refugees living in the country. “And now, I’m a refugee in the UK,” he said, advising everyone living in Turkey to watch his film to learn about the reasons of migration and the difficulties the migrants have to face. He thanked the jury for choosing their film.