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Is this just a long, beautiful dream?’: Syrian filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab on her country’s future

After 14 years of war, Syria has entered a new and uncertain chapter. The country is devastated – 90 per cent of Syrians live in poverty.

Despite the challenges up to one million people living in camps and displacement sites across the country’s northwest intend to return home within the next year.

As those Syrians prepare to return home, they are beginning the difficult process of rebuilding and confronting the past.

Ms. Al-Kateab, the filmmaker behind the award-winning documentary, For Sama, captured life under siege in Aleppo before fleeing the country in 2016.

Since then, she has remained a powerful advocate for the Syrian people, co-founding Action For Sama, a campaign, advocating for human rights, dignity, and accountability for all.

In this interview with UN News, as Syria stands at a crossroads, she shares her determination to make sure justice is not forgotten in the country’s next chapter.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

UN News: Waad, how have you been processing the past few months?
Waad Al-Kateab: I think it’s really confusing. We are over the moon, but at the same time, it was something that seemed so far away.

I thought the ending of my story was dying in exile, not being able to go back, never being able to see this beautiful day. And it just happened out of the blue, without any indication.

We were not ready, but that does not matter. It happened, and we are really happy.

At the same time, the pain and grief we had to go through for the last 14 years – and for so many of us, even 50 years, when Hafez al-Assad was president – it was just too much to handle.

I’m still thinking, is this real? Am I just having a long, beautiful dream?

UN News: Have you been in contact with people on the ground in Syria? What have they been telling you?
Waad Al-Kateab: Until now, because of my refugee status, I was not able to go back. But I'm working on this, and hopefully, at any second I will get citizenship in the UK, so I will be able to move freely