'For Sama' director's impassioned Bafta speech: 'I dedicate this to the great Syrian people still suffering'

Heartbreaking, gripping but also at times hopeful, For Sama is a Syrian documentary filmed over five years from inside besieged Aleppo that gives a first-hand account of war from the perspective of a new mother. It won the Best Documentary Bafta at last night's British Academy Film Awards, and standing on stage with her daughter, Sama, who is both the star of and motivation for the making of the documentary, director Waad Al-Kateab asked the audience to let the people in Idlib "hear your voice now". Also joined on stage by her husband Hamza, who worked as a doctor in Syria, and their friend Afra, who also appears in the film, Kateab added: "I would like to dedicate this award to the great Syrian people who are still suffering today. "The great heroes, the doctors, nurses, civil defense, and so many other people." The film, with four nominations at the Baftas, was the most nominated documentary in the award's history. It has seen an amazing trajectory, especially considering Kateab was, three years ago, unsure if they would survive, and so didn't know if anyone would ever see their footage. "In 2016, three years ago, we were in Aleppo. We were in a basement of a field hospital – Hamza, me and Sama and Afra, and we heard the shelling and bombs all the time around us. "At one moment, in 2016, when I was in contact with Channel 4 news, we even thought about where we should bury our footage in case we didn't make it." But Kateab also reminded the audience that her success should not overshadow the ongoing suffering in her home country. On Sunday, air strikes by the Syrian regime killed 14 civilians in Idlib . "We did the film, and I'm so honoured to be standing here. But as we're speaking now, the situation in Syria is still really bad. As we're speaking, there's bombing and shelling on more than 3.5 million civilians." Sama captures the hearts of audiences in the film, and did so too at the Baftas, jumping up and down with excitement as she joined her parents to accept the award, and then posing with the gold trophy as a mask: For Sama is Kateab's fightback, not just for herself, but "for all the people I lost, for all the people killed in Aleppo, and in all other places after us and before us. For me, it's very important to say: 'This is what happened,'" she told The National last May . "I feel a lot of guilt that I am out and I can't do anything for these people. So, maybe, with this film, I can go to the people, let them watch it, and maybe something will change."

'For Sama' director's impassioned Bafta speech: 'I dedicate this to the great Syrian people still suffering'

'Let them hear your voice' pleaded Waad Al-Kateab to the star-studded audience