Syrian filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab’s latest documentary, Death Without Mercy, is set to debut on Paramount+ on February 6.
The film, produced by MTV Documentary Films, focuses on two Syrian families over a ten-day period following the catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the Turkish-Syrian border in 2023. This devastating event claimed the lives of 55,000 people. Paramount+ will release the documentary on the second anniversary of the tragedy.
Al-Kateab, an activist and the director of the 2020 Oscar-nominated documentary For Sama, was not in Syria at the time of the earthquake. She learned about the disaster while in London and immediately began reaching out to individuals on the ground.
Among those she contacted were her friends Fadi Al Halabi, a cinematographer known for his work on the Oscar-winning short The White Helmets, and Fuad Sayed Issa, the founder of Violet, a humanitarian organization led by Syrian refugees.
“I told them to please, please, please film,” Al-Kateab recalls. “I kept insisting they document as much as they could. At that moment, there wasn’t yet a film. For me, the priority was ensuring that a tragedy of such magnitude was properly recorded.”
Shortly afterward, Al-Kateab received a call from producer Sheila Nevins, who was then heading MTV Documentary Films. Their collaboration led to the creation of Death Without Mercy, which premiered at the Sheffield DocFest last year.
The film blends personal, first-hand footage with TV news clips, social media content, CCTV and drone footage, archival material, and in-depth interviews.
The documentary follows two Syrian families as they search for missing loved ones while exposing the corruption, governmental neglect, and systemic failures that intensified the earthquake’s impact.
“Sheila played a critical role in this project,” Al-Kateab says. “From our first conversation, I could hear her passion, her deep care, and her anger—an anger that mirrored mine as a Syrian who felt let down by the world during such an unprecedented disaster.
That conversation assured me I was in safe hands. Sheila would fight for me and ensure I could tell this story in the best possible way.”
Al-Kateab says the film aims to honor the resilience and humanity of those affected by the earthquake. “This film is a testament to their courage, grief, and unyielding determination to hold onto hope amidst unimaginable loss,” she explains.
“Through their stories, I hope to inspire awareness, accountability, and a commitment to prevent such avoidable tragedies in the future.”
Reflecting on the universality of the disaster’s themes, she adds, “Watching the fires in L.A. brings this film to another level of relevance. It connects us all, showing how people can be deeply affected by such circumstances. It’s very sad, and it reminds us that so much more can and should be done differently. This film feels more urgent than ever.”
In December, Syrian President Bashar Assad was deposed in a bloodless coup by Islamist rebels who seized control of Damascus after a 13-year civil war. The conflict claimed over 500,000 lives and displaced millions of Syrians from their homeland.