Angels Of Sinjar

Poland, Germany, 2022, 109'

Oscar-nominated director Hanna Polak places her camera in Sinjar, in the north of Irak, deep down in an area where the Islamic State has tried to wipe out the Yazidi people. Mount Sinjar is a holy site for the Yazidi; it was attacked by Daesh in August 2014 after the Peshmerga retreated. Aerial footage of the region, of a breath-taking beauty, takes us to the city that counted 90,000 inhabitants before the genocide. Now it is in ruins, with most of the buildings destroyed. We meet Hanifa there, as she is actively trying to rescue her sisters, and Saeed, Nadia Murad’s brother: they both decided to stay and do their best to save their loved ones and demand justice. The horror of a forgotten genocide transpires through their testimonies. Sequences of Hanifa’s investigation alternate with interviews with surviving Daesh victims, thus producing a harrowing cinematic experience which shows us the strength and courage of a people that have been denied every right.