عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Syrian Documentary, ‘For Sama,’ Bags Oscar Nomination

Syrian documentary, 'For Sama,' is nominated for an Oscar award. (Twitter)
Syrian documentary, 'For Sama,' is nominated for an Oscar award. (Twitter)
TT
20
TT

Syrian Documentary, ‘For Sama,’ Bags Oscar Nomination

Syrian documentary, 'For Sama,' is nominated for an Oscar award. (Twitter)
Syrian documentary, 'For Sama,' is nominated for an Oscar award. (Twitter)

Syrian documentary, “For Sama”, was nominated for an Academy Award on Monday.

The film is the first feature documentary by Emmy award-winning filmmakers, Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts.

It is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her.

“For Sama” was awarded the Prix L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It also won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival

It will be competing for the Oscar alongside “American Factory”; “The Cave”; “The Edge of Democracy” and “Honeyland.”

The 92nd Academy Awards will be held at a star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles on February 9.

Most Viewed

 
Varieties

Germany Granted Citizenship to a Record Number of People in 2024, Led by Syrians 

People walk at the promenade by the river Rhine with the skyline in the background including the Rheinturm in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 13, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk at the promenade by the river Rhine with the skyline in the background including the Rheinturm in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 13, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Germany Granted Citizenship to a Record Number of People in 2024, Led by Syrians 

People walk at the promenade by the river Rhine with the skyline in the background including the Rheinturm in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 13, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk at the promenade by the river Rhine with the skyline in the background including the Rheinturm in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Germany granted citizenship to a record 291,955 people last year, a 46% increase from 2023, with Syrians making up the largest group, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office on Tuesday.

Reforms in the citizenship law contributed to the jump, the office said. Last June Germany reduced its residency requirement for naturalization from eight years to five and even three in special cases.

Many Syrians who arrived as refugees during 2015 and 2016 when former Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East became eligible for naturalization during 2024.

As a result, they made up the largest group of new citizens, accounting for 28% of all naturalizations, or 83,150 people, a 10.1% increase. They were followed by Turks, Iraqis, Russians, and Afghans, who represented 8%, 5%, 4%, and 3% of the total, respectively.

Russians saw the largest percentage increase in naturalizations, with the number rising to 12,980 in 2024 from 1,995 the previous year. The number of Turks taking German citizenship more than doubled to 22,525.

The new citizenship law also allows individuals to retain their original citizenship while acquiring German nationality, enabling tens of thousands of Turkish citizens — many of whom, or whose ancestors, came to Germany as guest workers in the 1960s and 1970s — to become naturalized.

However, Germany's new coalition government of the conservatives and Social Democrats plans to roll back some of these measures and reinstate a minimum waiting period of five years for citizenship.

The conservatives have said citizenship should come at the end of a period of integration, not "jump-start" it, and fear shorter wait times to become a German citizen may drive increased migration and public resentment.