It is the story of one Yazidi girl’s fight to find her missing family members, and the revelation of the strength and determination of a young survivor as she reclaims her voice and future. A story is captured in a film that opens on 15 November in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sara Harvey
From executive producer Emma Thompson, this award-winning film from Hasan Oswald is an incredible visual testimony of courage.
Mediha Alhamad, a teenage Yazidi girl, turns her camera on herself to process her trauma after surviving ISIS captivity. As she bravely faces her past, Mediha and her younger brothers, Ghazwan and Adnan, now strive to rebuild their lives despite the uncertain fates of their father, mother, and baby brother. Over the course of three years across Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, the story highlights one girl’s extraordinary spirit. Through her personal video-diaries, she confronts her trauma and pain as she initiates investigations into her captors.
Mediha’s journey is one of courage and determination as she steps bravely towards a future of justice and healing.
The film sheds light on the ongoing plight of the Yazidi people, coming a decade after the genocide inflicted by ISIS. The complexities of both local and global operations continue to hinder rescue efforts to this day.
Eight years after the genocide, the siblings must rely on a network of rescuers in their quest to reunite their missing loved ones. Mediha Alhamad says that before making the film, she could not talk about her trauma with anyone and felt completely alone and hopeless. But when Hasan gave her the camera, it immediately became her best friend.
“My biggest hope now is that audiences will continue watching the film and learning about my community, the Yazidi people, who are still suffering and in need of support more than ever. I hope that this film inspires more people to get involved in the Yazidi cause and help us fight for justice.” For his part, director, producer and screenwriter Hasan Oswald, says that his instinct as a filmmaker is always as collaborator. He explains that handing the camera to Mediha became immensely empowering for her, “and is an extraordinary gift to us all.
“For Mediha,” he says, “the camera became her confidante, her source of strength and resilience, and for us we hear her story – and that of the wider Yazidi community –through her words and importantly her cinematography. I couldn’t be more proud to have been with Mediha on this journey, to witness her growth as a young woman and the film’s impact on audiences worldwide”.
In alignment with the film’s release, the filmmakers and Together Films have developed an impact campaign to raise awareness about the Yazidi crisis, where 3,000 people remain missing, and to support Mediha’s quest for justice.
For more information click on “Mediha”.
(Photos provided by Sara Harvey Publicity)
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