A new FRONTLINE film, For Sama, which was recently nominated for an Oscar and also won the Golden Eye Award for the best documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, takes viewers into the graphic, raw reality of the Syrian crisis. The film was shot and directed by Waad al-Kateab, a young Syrian woman, and directed by British filmmaker Edward Watts—both Emmy Award winners. It has been praised for its “unflinching lens on the horrors of war, accompanied by a tender portrait of a young family born out of conflict and the courageous community that surrounds them.”

When Syrian President Bashar Assad denied bombing the city of Aleppo or using chemical weapons against his own people, al-Kateab knew it was a lie. Bombs had struck her Aleppo neighborhood. Her physician husband had witnessed patients dying from chemical exposure. His hospital was in ruins after an air raid.

A self-taught videographer, al-Kateab began to film daily life in her neighborhood and chronicle what was happening. “I wanted to prove the lie,” she said.

Now, eight years later, in conjunction with FRONTLINE and the UK’s Channel 4 News/ITN Productions, hundreds of hours of her footage from her bomb-ravaged neighborhood has become For Sama, a feature-length film that will be aired by FRONTLINE this fall, “going for big global reach,” said Watts.

The documentary unfolds as an intimate love story for al-Kateab’s daughter, Sama, and documents the parents’ agonizing decision to stay in Aleppo while the city was under siege.

Al-Kateab considers the film to be, “my life, my greatest loss, my greatest happiness.” Risking her life at every turn, she hopes its message will change minds, stop the Russian government from supporting the Syrian regime and hold the regime, and Assad specifically, accountable for what it’s done to its own people over the past decade.

For Sama came to FRONTLINE as the result of a close professional alliance with Channel 4 News, which is also known for its unflinching and in-depth investigations of issues of domestic and international importance.

In the midst of the Syrian conflict, Channel 4 broadcast al-Kateab’s video shorts, which received almost 500 million views online and won 24 awards, including the 2016 International Emmy for breaking news. At one awards ceremony, Nevine Mabro of Channel 4 introduced al-Kateab to Dan Edge, a FRONTLINE executive producer.

“FRONTLINE was an amazing partner,” said al-Kateab, adding that the series gave her and Watts great artistic leeway while providing invaluable feedback.

In the run-up to its FRONTLINE premiere, For Sama has won almost 20 awards at film festivals around the world, including the Prix L'Oeil d'Or for Best Documentary at the Festival de Cannes. Judges at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival gave it the Grand Jury Prize for documentary feature, calling it “extraordinary and harrowing” with “utterly gorgeous, moving filmmaking.” The film also won the SXSW Audience Award. Watts added that each time the film was shown, the audience rose in standing ovation.

Following its US theatrical release, For Sama will premiere on FRONTLINE and internationally on Channel 4 News in the fall. Check the FRONTLINE website for trailers and updates about the film.