26 Apr - 4 May
Mediha
Hasan Oswald

Mediha

Hasan Oswald
festival
Sat 26 Apr 25 - Sun 4 May 25

A young Êzidî woman survives abduction and slavery at the hands of ISIS and embarks on a courageous mission. She searches for justice and inner healing, but also for her missing parents and her little brother. Heartbreaking and inspiring.

Mediha's early childhood was simple and beautiful, but at the age of ten she was kidnapped by ISIS and forced into sexual slavery. When she is fifteen, she makes the courageous decision to hold the man who held her captive accountable for his actions. Something few Êzidî women have dared to do. But to do so, she will have to relive deeply traumatic events.

The American documentary filmmaker Hasan Oswald worked in a camp where Yazidi women and girls were sheltered after their liberation. Mediha, then fifteen, was one of them. Instead of creating a factual report from a Western perspective, Oswald decided to give her a camera. It is her video diary that is woven into this powerful documentary. Over the five years of filming, she develops into a resilient young woman with an extraordinary spirit.

direction
Hasan Oswald
cast
Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad
duration
90 min
year
2023
country
Iraq, Turkey, Syrian Arab Republic (the)
language
Kurdish
Subtitles
Dutch
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festival

"A poignant and gripping documentary."- The NYC Movie Guru