An acclaimed Santa Barbara filmmaker has used his cinematic skills to try to educate others about what’s happening to civilians in his homeland of Syria, because of its ongoing civil war.
More than 14 million have fled their homes because of the crisis, with some 7 million leaving Syria. An estimated 6.8 million have been displaced in the country.
"It is heartbreaking...it breaks my heart every single day," said Sam Kadi.
He grew up in Aleppo, a Syrian city which was once one of the jewels of the region. It’s since been ravaged by war.
He said the senseless killing he's seen around the world is unacceptable.
"Every time I watch what's going on in Syria, and every time I watch an innocent life that's being lost, or slaughtered for no reason, it's hard," said Kadi.
He went to college to study electrical engineering, but his true love was theater and cinema. Programs like that were limited in Syria. Kadi started working in stage production on the side, which led him to the United States in 2000. He decided to stay, and study cinema in college, which opened the door to his career as a producer, and director.
In 2016, he directed an acclaimed documentary called Little Gandi. It's about a young Syrian peace activist who goes up to often violent government troops with bottles of water, and roses. The activist was eventually arrested, tortured, and murdered. He became a symbol of peaceful protest.
It was selected as Syria's first-ever entry for a foreign language film for the Academy Awards.
Lamya’s Poem continues Kadi’s goal of creating films carrying messages of peace to areas of the world torn by violence. It was shortlisted for consideration for the 2023 Academy Awards.
The movie connects a young Syrian refugee named Lamya with a book of poetry, and Rumi, a young version of the famous 13th century poet who wrote it. They travel through time to connect.
"Anytime I can educate you while I am entertaining you, I've got a winner," said Kadi. "I always try to deal with subjects which open people's eyes.
But, he laughingly admits his agent wishes he'd also do a rom-com once in a while which might make it big at the box office.
There’s a free screening of Lamya's Poem November 17 at UC Santa Barbara. It’s sponsored by UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center, and the Santa Barbara non-profit group ShelterBox.
ShelterBox has been providing tents, and other basic humanitarian supplies to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees for more than a decade. The non-profit has helped more than 400,000 people impacted by the conflict since 2012.
He admits he feels some pressure to tell these stories, but he feels he needs to tell them. And, he said it's not just about Syria. It's about all of the innocent people caught in the middle of conflicts like Israelis, Palestinians, Libyans, and Iraqis.
Kadi feels it is his responsibility as a filmmaker to use the medium to not just educate, but to motivate people to work for peace. "To tell the people that they need to be aware of these things, so they don't happen again."
