Event runs September 22-27 in Malmo, Sweden.
The Nordisk Panorama Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries, which runs September 22-27 in Malmo, Sweden, will welcome more than 800 industry delegates, including a special delegation of seven director/producer teams from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian teams will present works in progress on September 25 to an invited group of international producers and decision-makers.
Scroll down for list of projects
While some of the projects of course cover the war– such as Olha Zhurba’s Displaced, and a disabled activist’s displacement during the war in Listening To The World; some of the other films are...
The Nordisk Panorama Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries, which runs September 22-27 in Malmo, Sweden, will welcome more than 800 industry delegates, including a special delegation of seven director/producer teams from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian teams will present works in progress on September 25 to an invited group of international producers and decision-makers.
Scroll down for list of projects
While some of the projects of course cover the war– such as Olha Zhurba’s Displaced, and a disabled activist’s displacement during the war in Listening To The World; some of the other films are...
- 9/2/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
For a film journo who closely followed last year’s he said (filmmakers)/she said (Isis “sex slave” subjects) controversy that entangled Hogir Hirori’s Sundance-premiering (followed by film-festival-shunned) Sabaya, the recent Cph:dox panel “Beyond Courage: Trauma-Informed Storytelling” was simply a must-see. The discussion, expertly moderated by Gavin Rees, Executive Director of Dart Center Europe (a satellite of Columbia Journalism School’s Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma), was part of the “Claim Your Story!” program, one of three engaging afternoons under Cph:conference’s “Business As Unusual” banner. (“Follow the Money!” and “Shaping Success.” were likewise smartly curated by The Catalysts, a multimedia agency that “turns […]
The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/25/2022
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
For a film journo who closely followed last year’s he said (filmmakers)/she said (Isis “sex slave” subjects) controversy that entangled Hogir Hirori’s Sundance-premiering (followed by film-festival-shunned) Sabaya, the recent Cph:dox panel “Beyond Courage: Trauma-Informed Storytelling” was simply a must-see. The discussion, expertly moderated by Gavin Rees, Executive Director of Dart Center Europe (a satellite of Columbia Journalism School’s Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma), was part of the “Claim Your Story!” program, one of three engaging afternoons under Cph:conference’s “Business As Unusual” banner. (“Follow the Money!” and “Shaping Success.” were likewise smartly curated by The Catalysts, a multimedia agency that “turns […]
The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/25/2022
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s Clara Sola was the big winner at the 2022 Swedish Film Awards, known as the Guldbagges, scooping Best Film and Best Director. Scroll down for the full list of winners.
Mesén also picked up Best Screenplay, shared with co-writer Maria Camila Arias, for the Spanish-language movie set in Costa Rica, which follow a 36-year-old woman who takes off on a journey to break free from social and religious conventions and become the master of her sexuality.
Below the line, Clara Sola also picked up Cinematography and Sound Design, taking its total wins on the night to five.
Further winners included A Christmas Tale, Hannes Holm’s live-action adaptation of the popular Swedish novel, which was previously made into an animated pic that has become a holiday classic in Sweden. Holm’s version won Best Actor for Jonas Karlsson and Best Supporting Actress for Jennie Silfverhjelm.
The Best...
Mesén also picked up Best Screenplay, shared with co-writer Maria Camila Arias, for the Spanish-language movie set in Costa Rica, which follow a 36-year-old woman who takes off on a journey to break free from social and religious conventions and become the master of her sexuality.
Below the line, Clara Sola also picked up Cinematography and Sound Design, taking its total wins on the night to five.
Further winners included A Christmas Tale, Hannes Holm’s live-action adaptation of the popular Swedish novel, which was previously made into an animated pic that has become a holiday classic in Sweden. Holm’s version won Best Actor for Jonas Karlsson and Best Supporting Actress for Jennie Silfverhjelm.
The Best...
- 1/25/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
MTV Documentary Films’ Hogir Hirori’s “Sabaya” and Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” will make their streaming debut on Paramount Plus today as the MTV ramps up its awards campaign for both.
Both feature docs are in the running for an Oscar nomination and will become available to stream today at 10 a.m. Pt on the ViacomCBS service formerly known as CBS All Access. The service is the streaming home for other MTV projects, including the Emmy-award winning doc “76 Days,” about Wuhan, China, on lockdown just after the Covid-19 pandemic first hit.
Sheila Nevins, a documentary powerhouse that now heads MTV Documentary Films, executive produced “Sabaya” and “Ascension.” She acquired “Sabaya” after the doc’s Sundance Film Festival premiere in January and “Ascension” following the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
Hirori’s “Sabaya,” which won the Sundance directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category, is about...
Both feature docs are in the running for an Oscar nomination and will become available to stream today at 10 a.m. Pt on the ViacomCBS service formerly known as CBS All Access. The service is the streaming home for other MTV projects, including the Emmy-award winning doc “76 Days,” about Wuhan, China, on lockdown just after the Covid-19 pandemic first hit.
Sheila Nevins, a documentary powerhouse that now heads MTV Documentary Films, executive produced “Sabaya” and “Ascension.” She acquired “Sabaya” after the doc’s Sundance Film Festival premiere in January and “Ascension” following the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June.
Hirori’s “Sabaya,” which won the Sundance directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category, is about...
- 11/15/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film won best feature and best screenplay.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was the big winner at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), which took place on the Gold Coast in Australia today (November 11).
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The film – Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 best screenplay winner – won best feature film and best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife and is based on a novella of...
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was the big winner at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), which took place on the Gold Coast in Australia today (November 11).
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The film – Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 best screenplay winner – won best feature film and best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife and is based on a novella of...
- 11/11/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car triumphed this eve at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The movie scooped best film, which Japanese filmmaker Hamaguchi shared with producer Teruhisa Yamamoto, and best screenplay, which the director shared with Oe Takamasa. Scroll down for the full list of winners on the night.
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
- 11/11/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Leah Purcell is the first Australian to be awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) after being recognised for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
- 11/11/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Nominations in the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) were revealed today with nods for 38 films from 25 Asia Pacific countries and regions. Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 11, at the 14th Apsa Ceremony on the Australia Gold Coast. Nominations include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, which won the best screenplay award at Cannes, Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Grand Prix winning, film A Hero, and the TIFF Platform award winning film Yuni directed by Kamila Andini.
Apsa celebrates cinema from over 70 countries, with an enhanced focus on content that reflects the region’s diversity.
Below is the full list of nominees.
Best Feature Film
A Hero (Ghahreman)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
A Night of Knowing Nothing
Directed by Payal Kapadia
Drive My Car
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The Pencil (Prostoy karandash)
Directed by Natalya Nazarova
There is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Best Youth Feature...
Apsa celebrates cinema from over 70 countries, with an enhanced focus on content that reflects the region’s diversity.
Below is the full list of nominees.
Best Feature Film
A Hero (Ghahreman)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
A Night of Knowing Nothing
Directed by Payal Kapadia
Drive My Car
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The Pencil (Prostoy karandash)
Directed by Natalya Nazarova
There is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Best Youth Feature...
- 10/13/2021
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Winners will be announced on November 11.
Cannes winners Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero lead the nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (Apsa) awards.
Drive My Car is Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 Competition best screenplay winner. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife.
A Hero, which won the grand prix at Cannes, is a French-Iranian co-production which looks at what happens when an unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a social media storm.
Both...
Cannes winners Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero lead the nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (Apsa) awards.
Drive My Car is Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 Competition best screenplay winner. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife.
A Hero, which won the grand prix at Cannes, is a French-Iranian co-production which looks at what happens when an unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a social media storm.
Both...
- 10/13/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The 17th Zurich Film Festival concluded Saturday with wins for Jonas Carpignano‘s “A Chiara” and Fred Baillif’s “La Mif,” with Renato Borrayo Serrano’s “Life of Ivanna” named best documentary.
The jury, led by Daniel Brühl, and featuring director Stéphanie Chuat, former Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick and producer Andrea Cornwell, decided to award “A Chiara” with the prize for the best film of the Feature Film Competition. The Italian-French-Swedish-Danish co-production sees a teenage girl in a Calabrian town discovering her father’s criminal involvement.
“We were swept away by the modern take on the Italian neorealist tradition, the exceptional use of music and sound design and the outstanding performances by Swami Rotolo and her family, all making their film debuts. This film is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece,” argued the jury, calling the decision “unanimous.”
Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” – praised for “an incredible performance” by Clifton Collins Jr.,...
The jury, led by Daniel Brühl, and featuring director Stéphanie Chuat, former Berlinale chief Dieter Kosslick and producer Andrea Cornwell, decided to award “A Chiara” with the prize for the best film of the Feature Film Competition. The Italian-French-Swedish-Danish co-production sees a teenage girl in a Calabrian town discovering her father’s criminal involvement.
“We were swept away by the modern take on the Italian neorealist tradition, the exceptional use of music and sound design and the outstanding performances by Swami Rotolo and her family, all making their film debuts. This film is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece,” argued the jury, calling the decision “unanimous.”
Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” – praised for “an incredible performance” by Clifton Collins Jr.,...
- 10/2/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
“Sabaya” producer Antonio Russo Merenda has responded to a bombshell article published on Monday in The New York Times claiming that many Yazidi women portrayed in the Sundance prize-winning documentary never agreed to be in the film.
Merenda issued a statement on Thursday evening saying that he and director Hogir Hirori “received written, verbal or filmed consent from everyone who appears” in “Sabaya,” as well as from the legal guardian of the young girl who is featured in the film.
Merenda also provided statements from one of the main female protagonista of “Sabaya,” as well as from a Syrian Kurdish filmmaker who worked with Hirori. He also presented a letter from the Swedish Film Institute, which financed the documentary.
“Sabaya” follows a fearless rescue group risking their lives to save women who were abducted by Isis and turned into sex slaves. It played at this year’s Sundance and won...
Merenda issued a statement on Thursday evening saying that he and director Hogir Hirori “received written, verbal or filmed consent from everyone who appears” in “Sabaya,” as well as from the legal guardian of the young girl who is featured in the film.
Merenda also provided statements from one of the main female protagonista of “Sabaya,” as well as from a Syrian Kurdish filmmaker who worked with Hirori. He also presented a letter from the Swedish Film Institute, which financed the documentary.
“Sabaya” follows a fearless rescue group risking their lives to save women who were abducted by Isis and turned into sex slaves. It played at this year’s Sundance and won...
- 10/1/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmakers behind the documentary Sabaya are rebutting a published report claiming they failed to properly obtain consent from some of the victims of sexual enslavement who appear in the award-winning film, about Yazidi women and girls seized by Isis fighters in Iraq.
“Director Hogir Hirori and I have received written, verbal or filmed consent from everyone who appears in our film Sabaya (as well as from the legal guardian of the young girl who is featured),” producer Antonio Russo Merenda insisted in a statement obtained by Deadline. “Sabaya is a Swedish production following Swedish law and per Swedish law: written, verbal and filmed consent are equally valid. Consent forms were provided in both Arabic (the official language in both Syria and Iraq) and English.”
The statement was released three days after a New York Times article, co-authored by the paper’s Baghdad bureau chief, appeared under the headline, “Women Enslaved...
“Director Hogir Hirori and I have received written, verbal or filmed consent from everyone who appears in our film Sabaya (as well as from the legal guardian of the young girl who is featured),” producer Antonio Russo Merenda insisted in a statement obtained by Deadline. “Sabaya is a Swedish production following Swedish law and per Swedish law: written, verbal and filmed consent are equally valid. Consent forms were provided in both Arabic (the official language in both Syria and Iraq) and English.”
The statement was released three days after a New York Times article, co-authored by the paper’s Baghdad bureau chief, appeared under the headline, “Women Enslaved...
- 10/1/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Further new releases include ‘Reminiscence’, ‘Pig’.
Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK horror Censor starts its run in UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, released by Vertigo Releasing.
The film will open in 170 sites. It is Bailey-Bond’s directorial debut, produced by Helen Jones for Silver Salt Films, with Rook Films and Timpson Films, plus backing from the BFI Film Fund, Film4 and Ffilm Cymru Wales.
Censor first screened at the online Sundance Film Festival in January 2021, going on to play events including the Berlinale, Galway Film Fleadh and Sundance London.
It follows a film censor who, after viewing a familiar video nasty, sets...
Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK horror Censor starts its run in UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, released by Vertigo Releasing.
The film will open in 170 sites. It is Bailey-Bond’s directorial debut, produced by Helen Jones for Silver Salt Films, with Rook Films and Timpson Films, plus backing from the BFI Film Fund, Film4 and Ffilm Cymru Wales.
Censor first screened at the online Sundance Film Festival in January 2021, going on to play events including the Berlinale, Galway Film Fleadh and Sundance London.
It follows a film censor who, after viewing a familiar video nasty, sets...
- 8/20/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Hogir Hirori’s film follows Mahmud as he and his team of volunteers infiltrate the dangerous al-Hawl camp in Syria to liberate Yazidi women trafficked as sex slaves
The first 20 minutes of Hogir Hirori’s extraordinary documentary has the beat of a gripping thriller, full of hushed voices, car chases, and the terrifying sounds of gunfight. Much of it shot at night, the film follows Mahmud, a member of an organisation called the Yazidi Home Center (Yhc), and his trips with other volunteers to the dangerous al-Hawl camp in Syria which holds people with Isis links. The group’s goal is to retrieve and rescue Yazidi women who were kidnapped and sex-trafficked by Isis. Termed “sabaya” by their captors, the women endured unimaginable abuse, leaving them with debilitating lifelong trauma.
Intertwining with these tense, heartbreaking moments is the mundane daily life at Mahmud’s house, which doubles as a temporary shelter for the women.
The first 20 minutes of Hogir Hirori’s extraordinary documentary has the beat of a gripping thriller, full of hushed voices, car chases, and the terrifying sounds of gunfight. Much of it shot at night, the film follows Mahmud, a member of an organisation called the Yazidi Home Center (Yhc), and his trips with other volunteers to the dangerous al-Hawl camp in Syria which holds people with Isis links. The group’s goal is to retrieve and rescue Yazidi women who were kidnapped and sex-trafficked by Isis. Termed “sabaya” by their captors, the women endured unimaginable abuse, leaving them with debilitating lifelong trauma.
Intertwining with these tense, heartbreaking moments is the mundane daily life at Mahmud’s house, which doubles as a temporary shelter for the women.
- 8/18/2021
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
With car chases and shootouts, it may feel like a Hollywood action flick, but, as the director, Hogir Hirori, explains, the film is really about the exploited women and girls there
In August 2014, after Islamic State (Isis) militants attacked the Sinjar district in northern Iraq, Hogir Hirori realised his calling. Although he had been living in Sweden since 1999, his home town was only about two hours’ drive from Sinjar.
“When Daesh [Isis] attacked, I realised that I could tell these stories in a really specific way,” he says, speaking via video from Stockholm. “I knew the culture and the language, and I’ve been a refugee all my life, so I had the understanding and the insights to do these documentaries very well.” Hirori had trained in media production and worked in Swedish television, but he had never before addressed an international audience. The news coming out of Sinjar changed all that.
In August 2014, after Islamic State (Isis) militants attacked the Sinjar district in northern Iraq, Hogir Hirori realised his calling. Although he had been living in Sweden since 1999, his home town was only about two hours’ drive from Sinjar.
“When Daesh [Isis] attacked, I realised that I could tell these stories in a really specific way,” he says, speaking via video from Stockholm. “I knew the culture and the language, and I’ve been a refugee all my life, so I had the understanding and the insights to do these documentaries very well.” Hirori had trained in media production and worked in Swedish television, but he had never before addressed an international audience. The news coming out of Sinjar changed all that.
- 8/12/2021
- by Ellen E Jones
- The Guardian - Film News
Sony Pictures Classics’ sci-fi drama Nine Days starring Winston Duke opens in four theaters in a specialty market buoyed by recent releases like Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and Pig. New York’s arthouse scene, outpaced by LA of late, is perking up, distributors say (Ailey numbers were super there) and moviegoers are rewarding unique films and strong stories.
(The slow reviving specialty scene is keeping its head down as day-and-date tensions in wide release blockbuster-land explode.)
Nine Days hits NYC and LA today before rolling out nationwide August 6 in 250-275 theaters, said Jason Michael Berman, a producer, and president of Mandalay Pictures — of course depending on how it does. He’s upbeat after 800 people turned out for LA screening this week at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel with EP Spike Jonze introducing the film, written and directed by Edson Oda,...
(The slow reviving specialty scene is keeping its head down as day-and-date tensions in wide release blockbuster-land explode.)
Nine Days hits NYC and LA today before rolling out nationwide August 6 in 250-275 theaters, said Jason Michael Berman, a producer, and president of Mandalay Pictures — of course depending on how it does. He’s upbeat after 800 people turned out for LA screening this week at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel with EP Spike Jonze introducing the film, written and directed by Edson Oda,...
- 7/30/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Sabaya MTV Documentary Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Hogir Hirori Writer: Hogir Hirori, based on an idea by Lorin Ibrahim Cast: Mahmud, Ziyad, Siham, Zahra, Suleiman, Shadi, Leila, Mitra Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/27/21 Opens: July 30, 2021 You don’t have to be a Trumpite […]
The post Sabaya Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Sabaya Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/26/2021
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Few documentaries made an impact at Sundance comparable to Sabaya—it did win their World Cinema Documentary Directing Award, after all. Which surely played no small part in an acquisition from MTV Documentary Films, who will release Hogir Hirori’s picture, about rescue missions for women held captive by Isis, on July 30. Naturally, a trailer ensues.
The intensity therein may be match by the final result. Writing out of Sundance, Isaac Feldberg called Sabaya‘s level of access “nerve-janglingly scary,” further saying “Hirori often presses forward, ducking under regulation mint-green tent flaps to peer into refugees’ makeshift living quarters; it’s difficult not to instinctively recoil at the potential unknowns waiting on the other side. It says plenty about Hirori that he doesn’t flinch. His camera often looks through the front and rear windshields of their vehicles, lending Sabaya a literal front-seat immediacy as this rescue team hurtles toward or away from danger.
The intensity therein may be match by the final result. Writing out of Sundance, Isaac Feldberg called Sabaya‘s level of access “nerve-janglingly scary,” further saying “Hirori often presses forward, ducking under regulation mint-green tent flaps to peer into refugees’ makeshift living quarters; it’s difficult not to instinctively recoil at the potential unknowns waiting on the other side. It says plenty about Hirori that he doesn’t flinch. His camera often looks through the front and rear windshields of their vehicles, lending Sabaya a literal front-seat immediacy as this rescue team hurtles toward or away from danger.
- 7/13/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
MTV Documentary Films has set set July 30 as the theatrical release date for “Sabaya.”
The documentary that generated strong reviews at Sundance this year follows the sexual exploitation of women in the Kurdish religious minority group of Yazidi. The title refers to the term used for individuals who are abducted and forced into sexual slavery. The film will have theatrical runs in New York, Los Angeles and other key markets as MTV Documentary Films has high hopes for its chances as an film awards contender.
The film follows Mahmud, Ziyad and their group of fellow Yazidis who, armed with only a mobile phone and a gun, risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by Isis in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria.
Writer-director Hogir Hirori recently won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary that generated strong reviews at Sundance this year follows the sexual exploitation of women in the Kurdish religious minority group of Yazidi. The title refers to the term used for individuals who are abducted and forced into sexual slavery. The film will have theatrical runs in New York, Los Angeles and other key markets as MTV Documentary Films has high hopes for its chances as an film awards contender.
The film follows Mahmud, Ziyad and their group of fellow Yazidis who, armed with only a mobile phone and a gun, risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by Isis in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria.
Writer-director Hogir Hirori recently won the directing award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
- 7/12/2021
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance title “Captains of Zaatari” has sold into Utopia for the U.S., where it will get a theatrical release this fall.
London-based sales agent Dogwoof secured the movie with Robert Schwartzman and Cole Harper’s fledgling distributor Utopia, which is planning a day-and-date release in cinemas on Nov. 19 in New York and Los Angeles, alongside a premiere on Apple TV and Altavod.
Directed and produced by Ali El Arabi from Egypt, the film follows two best friends, Mahmoud and Fawzi, living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, who dream of becoming professional soccer players. Despite being confined under challenging conditions, they remain hopeful and practice day in and day out. When a world-renowned sports academy visits, both have a chance to turn their dream into a reality.
The film, which world premiered in competition at Sundance in January, has also sold into Sherry Media (Canada), Trigon (Switzerland) and...
London-based sales agent Dogwoof secured the movie with Robert Schwartzman and Cole Harper’s fledgling distributor Utopia, which is planning a day-and-date release in cinemas on Nov. 19 in New York and Los Angeles, alongside a premiere on Apple TV and Altavod.
Directed and produced by Ali El Arabi from Egypt, the film follows two best friends, Mahmoud and Fawzi, living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, who dream of becoming professional soccer players. Despite being confined under challenging conditions, they remain hopeful and practice day in and day out. When a world-renowned sports academy visits, both have a chance to turn their dream into a reality.
The film, which world premiered in competition at Sundance in January, has also sold into Sherry Media (Canada), Trigon (Switzerland) and...
- 7/7/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
The Russian festival ran as a mostly physical event, with cinemas running at 50% capacity.
#Dogpoopgirl, the debut feature of Romanian actor-writer turned filmmaker Andrei Hutuleac, has won the best film prize at the Moscow International Film Festival this evening (April 29).
The film is a social satire inspired by the real case of a woman shamed online when she refuses to clean the mess her dog has made on a car. The incident is filmed, goes viral and the woman’s life takes an unwelcome turn.
Julian Radlmaier’s German genre title Bloodsuckers - A Marxist Vampire Comedy, was awarded the Silver George special jury prize.
#Dogpoopgirl, the debut feature of Romanian actor-writer turned filmmaker Andrei Hutuleac, has won the best film prize at the Moscow International Film Festival this evening (April 29).
The film is a social satire inspired by the real case of a woman shamed online when she refuses to clean the mess her dog has made on a car. The incident is filmed, goes viral and the woman’s life takes an unwelcome turn.
Julian Radlmaier’s German genre title Bloodsuckers - A Marxist Vampire Comedy, was awarded the Silver George special jury prize.
- 4/29/2021
- by Stuart Kemp
- ScreenDaily
The 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF45) today announced 14 Firebird Award and Fipresci Prize winners, including The Day is Over, The Wasteland, Mr. Bachmann and His Class and Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit.
In naming Qi Rui’s The Day is Over Best Film of this year’s Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language), the jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”. In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards – Best Director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and Best Actress for Huang Tian for “intelligently guiding the audience into the tender inner world of a young girl”. The Best Actor Award went to Wuhai’s Huang Xuan, who “brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man...
In naming Qi Rui’s The Day is Over Best Film of this year’s Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language), the jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”. In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards – Best Director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and Best Actress for Huang Tian for “intelligently guiding the audience into the tender inner world of a young girl”. The Best Actor Award went to Wuhai’s Huang Xuan, who “brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man...
- 4/11/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Mainland China youth drama “The Day is Over” was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The already celebrated Iranian film “The Wasteland,” directed by Ahmad Bahrami won the equivalent award in the overseas section.
The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.
“The Day is Over,” directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”.
In the same section, “Summer Blur” garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and best actress for Huang Tian.
The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.
“The Day is Over,” directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”.
In the same section, “Summer Blur” garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and best actress for Huang Tian.
- 4/11/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
MTV Documentary Films has acquired North American rights to “Sabaya,” the story of volunteers of the Yazidi Home Center, who risk their lives in order to save women and girls held by Isis as sex slaves.
The film received a directing award for world cinema documentary when it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Sabaya” is directed and produced by Stockholm-based filmmaker Hogir Hirori and also produced by Antonio Russo Merenda. In a rave review in Variety, Jessica Kiang wrote that the film was “gripping, harrowing, superb.”
MTV Documentary Films will qualify “Sabaya” for awards consideration and is targeting an early fall release. The company’s recent film, “76 Days,” a look at the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, was just shortlisted for a best documentary Oscar. MTV Documentary Films’s “Hunger Ward” was also shortlisted for best documentary short subject.
Here’s the logline: “Armed with...
The film received a directing award for world cinema documentary when it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Sabaya” is directed and produced by Stockholm-based filmmaker Hogir Hirori and also produced by Antonio Russo Merenda. In a rave review in Variety, Jessica Kiang wrote that the film was “gripping, harrowing, superb.”
MTV Documentary Films will qualify “Sabaya” for awards consideration and is targeting an early fall release. The company’s recent film, “76 Days,” a look at the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, was just shortlisted for a best documentary Oscar. MTV Documentary Films’s “Hunger Ward” was also shortlisted for best documentary short subject.
Here’s the logline: “Armed with...
- 3/8/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
- 2/5/2021
- by Jean Bentley
- Indiewire
Hogir Hirori, director of “Sabaya,” a documentary from Sweden on the fight to rescue women and girls from Isis slavery at a vast refugee camp on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Iraqi border, said he feared for his safety when he was working alone in the war-torn area.
“In many situations it was dangerous, when I thought: ‘Should I be doing this, is it worth it?’ ” he said.
In a conversation with moderator Steve Pond at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio, presented by Nfp and National Geographic, Hirori said he had originally planned to do the documentary with his wife as a joint project. “But then as the war increased and the situation down there was getting worse with time, I decided it was not safe for the whole family to be there and film together.”
Speaking through translator Hannah Valenta, Kurdish director Hirori said he has made several documentaries about...
“In many situations it was dangerous, when I thought: ‘Should I be doing this, is it worth it?’ ” he said.
In a conversation with moderator Steve Pond at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio, presented by Nfp and National Geographic, Hirori said he had originally planned to do the documentary with his wife as a joint project. “But then as the war increased and the situation down there was getting worse with time, I decided it was not safe for the whole family to be there and film together.”
Speaking through translator Hannah Valenta, Kurdish director Hirori said he has made several documentaries about...
- 2/5/2021
- by Diane Haithman
- The Wrap
Last year’s Sundance Film Festival – one of the few in-person festivals of 2020 – saw a marked gain in Asian-American cinema with the win of Yoon Yuh-jung-starring “Minari”. This year, after six days and 73 feature films, Sundance sees less wins on the Asian and Asian-American cinematic front — and instead sees a turn of attention to the first day of the festival. Though three of the four Grand Jury Prizes awarded to films showcased on Sundance’s opening night, their presence must have been difficult to forget over the last six days — among them including “Flee,” a Denmark-France-Sweden-Norway animated documentary about an Afghan refugee.
Asian stories stood out in this year’s World Cinema: Documentary category, however. “Writing with Fire” (Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh) — a film exploring the accomplishments of a Dalit women-run news outlet in India — notably won the Audience Award and Special Jury Award: Impact for Change Award. Kurdish...
Asian stories stood out in this year’s World Cinema: Documentary category, however. “Writing with Fire” (Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh) — a film exploring the accomplishments of a Dalit women-run news outlet in India — notably won the Audience Award and Special Jury Award: Impact for Change Award. Kurdish...
- 2/4/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Chicago – The 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be long remembered as the “virtual” version due to the pandemic, but there are always the real films, and the festival announced their competition honorees on February 2nd, in a virtual ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt.
After six days, 73 feature films and 50 Short Films, the Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to “Coda” (U.S. Dramatic) … Coda is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and highlights the character of Ruby. “Summer of Soul” (U.S. Documentary) … the “Black Woodstock” of Harlem in the same Summer of 1969. “Flee” (World Cinema Documentary) … a child immigrant grows up to be a respected academic, but still harbors a secret. And “Hive” (World Cinema Dramatic) … a woman has a husband missing in action during the Kosovo war – should she continue to support herself or wait?
The list of all award winners are below.
Grand Jury Prize
Coda
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
U.
After six days, 73 feature films and 50 Short Films, the Grand Jury Prizes were awarded to “Coda” (U.S. Dramatic) … Coda is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults, and highlights the character of Ruby. “Summer of Soul” (U.S. Documentary) … the “Black Woodstock” of Harlem in the same Summer of 1969. “Flee” (World Cinema Documentary) … a child immigrant grows up to be a respected academic, but still harbors a secret. And “Hive” (World Cinema Dramatic) … a woman has a husband missing in action during the Kosovo war – should she continue to support herself or wait?
The list of all award winners are below.
Grand Jury Prize
Coda
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
U.
- 2/3/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize.
Coda and Hive were the big winners at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday night (February 2), taking home four and three prizes, respectively.
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda – set up after producer Patrick Wachsberger took remake rights to French film La Famille Bélier with him when he left Lionsgate – won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic prizes.
The...
Coda and Hive were the big winners at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday night (February 2), taking home four and three prizes, respectively.
Siân Heder’s US feel-good family tale Coda – set up after producer Patrick Wachsberger took remake rights to French film La Famille Bélier with him when he left Lionsgate – won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic prizes.
The...
- 2/3/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The mostly virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close. The festival announced awards winners Tuesday night, trading an in-person ceremony for one broadcast live and hosted by Patton Oswalt. The biggest winner was Sian Heder’s coming of age drama “Coda,” which earned four U.S. Dramatic Competition awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Other Big winners were “Summer of Soul,” which took home the two top U.S. Documentary awards.
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards.
A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The narrative feature “Coda” and the documentary “Summer of Soul” swept the top categories at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prizes and also taking the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
“Coda,” director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age story in which Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family, also won an award for its ensemble, many of them deaf actors who performed in ASL. Its wins come three days after the film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple.
“Summer of Soul,” which like “Coda” screened on the festival’s opening night, is a documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson built around long-unseen concert footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-weekend event that first-time director Questlove uses as a launching pad to explore race relations and Black culture in that tumultuous time.
- 2/3/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
There are many times in Hogir Hirori’s “Sabaya,” , where one might wonder how they pulled it off. That feeling is quickly followed by relief that they did.
The daring on display by Hirori, the 40-year-old Swedish filmmaker who left his native Kurdistan in 1999, is matched and (he’d certainly say) exceeded by the bravery of his subjects: the humanitarian rescuers of the Yazidi Home Center in northern Syria. Their mission? To send “infiltrators” into the nearby Al-Hol camp, which is part refugee relocation settlement, part prison. The 73,000-person camp contains both refugees displaced by the incursions of the former Islamic State (known in the film by the Arabic “Daesh”) but includes many members of Isis itself.
As part of Isis’s many atrocities during their brief rule over parts of Syria and Iraq in the mid-2010s, the terrorist group kidnapped thousands of Yazidi girls, many teenagers or prepubescent,...
The daring on display by Hirori, the 40-year-old Swedish filmmaker who left his native Kurdistan in 1999, is matched and (he’d certainly say) exceeded by the bravery of his subjects: the humanitarian rescuers of the Yazidi Home Center in northern Syria. Their mission? To send “infiltrators” into the nearby Al-Hol camp, which is part refugee relocation settlement, part prison. The 73,000-person camp contains both refugees displaced by the incursions of the former Islamic State (known in the film by the Arabic “Daesh”) but includes many members of Isis itself.
As part of Isis’s many atrocities during their brief rule over parts of Syria and Iraq in the mid-2010s, the terrorist group kidnapped thousands of Yazidi girls, many teenagers or prepubescent,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards went off at a very fast clip tonight, in an hour’s time. Host Patton Oswalt — or as he billed himself, “Discount Giamatti” — kept the jokes flowing.
Siân Heder’s Coda, which we first told you was swooped up by Apple with a rich $25 million bid, came up big. It won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and a Special Jury Ensemble Cast award too. Heder also won Best Director in the U.S. Dramatic section. The movie follows a girl named Ruby. As the only hearing person in an otherwise deaf family, she is divided about staying with them as their fishing business is threatened.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer of Soul took the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Documentary.
Blerta Basholli’s Hive, about a woman in Kosovo who fights against a patriarchal society and whose husband is missing,...
Siân Heder’s Coda, which we first told you was swooped up by Apple with a rich $25 million bid, came up big. It won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and a Special Jury Ensemble Cast award too. Heder also won Best Director in the U.S. Dramatic section. The movie follows a girl named Ruby. As the only hearing person in an otherwise deaf family, she is divided about staying with them as their fishing business is threatened.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer of Soul took the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Documentary.
Blerta Basholli’s Hive, about a woman in Kosovo who fights against a patriarchal society and whose husband is missing,...
- 2/3/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Tense and gripping, Hogir Hirori’s documentary Sabaya never positions itself as a thriller. There’s no need. Barring a few cards of scene-setting exposition, this vital dispatch embeds viewers with a rescue operation in the Middle East, and does so with a degree of first-person access that’s not just instantly bold: it’s nerve-janglingly scary.
In the summer of 2014, the Islamic State attacked and overran northern Iraq’s Sinjar region, ancestral homeland to the persecuted Yazidi minority. Soon slaughtering thousands of adult Yazidi men in a genocide, Daesh militants also captured thousands of Yazidi women and girls as sex slaves (or “sabaya”), believing them members of an “unfaithful religion” and thus deserving of such abuse.
Filmed last year by Hirori (also the film’s editor and Dp), Sabaya details the efforts of volunteers with the Yazidian Home Center––led by senior members Mahmud and Ziyad––to rescue these...
In the summer of 2014, the Islamic State attacked and overran northern Iraq’s Sinjar region, ancestral homeland to the persecuted Yazidi minority. Soon slaughtering thousands of adult Yazidi men in a genocide, Daesh militants also captured thousands of Yazidi women and girls as sex slaves (or “sabaya”), believing them members of an “unfaithful religion” and thus deserving of such abuse.
Filmed last year by Hirori (also the film’s editor and Dp), Sabaya details the efforts of volunteers with the Yazidian Home Center––led by senior members Mahmud and Ziyad––to rescue these...
- 2/2/2021
- by Isaac Feldberg
- The Film Stage
Mahmud is on his cellphone and he can’t get through. It’s the first image in Hogir Hirori’s startling “Sabaya,” an intense, deeply embedded documentary following the painstaking and perilous rescue of Yazidi women (a Kurdish religious minority), from enslavement by Isis, aka Daesh. It will not be the last time a call is dropped, a signal lost or a ringback tone times out — it becomes a recurring motif, a matter-of-fact reminder of all the people who can’t be reached.
The Al-Hol camp, on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Iraqi border, is the most notorious in the Middle East. Its acres of ramshackle tents house 73,000 refugees displaced in the ongoing battle between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Daesh. Among them are a few thousand Yazidi women and girls kidnapped by Daesh when they took control of the Northern Iraqi province of Sinjar five years prior. The Yazidi menfolk were murdered,...
The Al-Hol camp, on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Iraqi border, is the most notorious in the Middle East. Its acres of ramshackle tents house 73,000 refugees displaced in the ongoing battle between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Daesh. Among them are a few thousand Yazidi women and girls kidnapped by Daesh when they took control of the Northern Iraqi province of Sinjar five years prior. The Yazidi menfolk were murdered,...
- 2/2/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya is a harrowing tale of heroism from a filmmaker all too familiar with the wartime struggles of those he documents. With his latest, the final piece of a cinematic trilogy that includes The Deminer (which nabbed the Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary at IDFA 2017), the Swedish director, who fled his native Kurdistan in 1999, returns to the battle zone to spotlight the dedicated civil servants of the Yazidi Home Center. Putting their lives on the line 24/7, two brave men and a slew of extraordinary, anonymous female “infiltrators” fight, using phones more than guns, to save […]
The post “It Was Not Really Possible to Use Any Safety Precautions or Protocols”: Hogir Hirori on his Sundance-debuting Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It Was Not Really Possible to Use Any Safety Precautions or Protocols”: Hogir Hirori on his Sundance-debuting Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/1/2021
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya is a harrowing tale of heroism from a filmmaker all too familiar with the wartime struggles of those he documents. With his latest, the final piece of a cinematic trilogy that includes The Deminer (which nabbed the Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary at IDFA 2017), the Swedish director, who fled his native Kurdistan in 1999, returns to the battle zone to spotlight the dedicated civil servants of the Yazidi Home Center. Putting their lives on the line 24/7, two brave men and a slew of extraordinary, anonymous female “infiltrators” fight, using phones more than guns, to save […]
The post “It Was Not Really Possible to Use Any Safety Precautions or Protocols”: Hogir Hirori on his Sundance-debuting Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It Was Not Really Possible to Use Any Safety Precautions or Protocols”: Hogir Hirori on his Sundance-debuting Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/1/2021
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
This year’s Sundance sees a remarkable range of refugee stories in their World Cinema Documentary Competition (three out of ten!) – and Swedish production “Sabaya” (Hogir Hirori)‘s silence stands out in the sea of voices. With no narration, minimal explanation, and completely confidential footage, “Sabaya” pushes the definitions of “documentary” to its limits.
Sabaya is screening at Sundance
“Sabaya” follows the courageous work of the Yazidi Home Center in Syria. The Center runs multiple operations. Mahmud and Ziyad — armed with only a gun, a van, and Whatsapp — regularly track down Isis-owned, Yazidi sex slaves (“Sabaya”) in camp Al-Hol. At the Center proper, Mahmud’s wife Siham and mother Zahra rehabilitate the traumatized victims with love and care. The saved girls then have a choice. They can look for and return to their original families (if the said families are still alive), or they can join the Center as infiltrators...
Sabaya is screening at Sundance
“Sabaya” follows the courageous work of the Yazidi Home Center in Syria. The Center runs multiple operations. Mahmud and Ziyad — armed with only a gun, a van, and Whatsapp — regularly track down Isis-owned, Yazidi sex slaves (“Sabaya”) in camp Al-Hol. At the Center proper, Mahmud’s wife Siham and mother Zahra rehabilitate the traumatized victims with love and care. The saved girls then have a choice. They can look for and return to their original families (if the said families are still alive), or they can join the Center as infiltrators...
- 1/31/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya tells the untold story of young survivors of Daesh sex trafficking. The documentary follows the actions of the Yazidi Home Center as they infiltrate the Al-Hol camp where several women and children were held against their will as slaves. As the editor of his own film (as well as the cinematographer), Hirori shares how he preserved the exigence of the Sabaya girls’ story while protecting their identities along the way. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this […]
The post "I Had to Put My Own Interests Aside": Editor Hogir Hirori on Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "I Had to Put My Own Interests Aside": Editor Hogir Hirori on Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya tells the untold story of young survivors of Daesh sex trafficking. The documentary follows the actions of the Yazidi Home Center as they infiltrate the Al-Hol camp where several women and children were held against their will as slaves. As the editor of his own film (as well as the cinematographer), Hirori shares how he preserved the exigence of the Sabaya girls’ story while protecting their identities along the way. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this […]
The post "I Had to Put My Own Interests Aside": Editor Hogir Hirori on Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "I Had to Put My Own Interests Aside": Editor Hogir Hirori on Sabaya first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Hot on the heels of its Sundance selection, London-based sales agent and distributor Dogwoof has acquired Hogir Hirori’s documentary “Sabaya” and will shop global rights.
The film will receive its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary section of the 2021 festival. Dogwoof previously repped Hirori’s IDFA-winning documentary “The Deminer” (2017), which follows a former Iraqi soldier on a personal mission to disarm thousands of landmines using just a pocketknife and some wirecutters.
“Sabaya” is the term used for individuals abducted and forced into sexual slavery. The film follows Mahmud, Ziyad and their group of fellow Yazidis who, armed with only a mobile phone and a gun, risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by Isis as Sabaya in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria.
“Following a great collaboration with Dogwoof for my previous documentary, ‘The Deminer,’ it was an...
The film will receive its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary section of the 2021 festival. Dogwoof previously repped Hirori’s IDFA-winning documentary “The Deminer” (2017), which follows a former Iraqi soldier on a personal mission to disarm thousands of landmines using just a pocketknife and some wirecutters.
“Sabaya” is the term used for individuals abducted and forced into sexual slavery. The film follows Mahmud, Ziyad and their group of fellow Yazidis who, armed with only a mobile phone and a gun, risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by Isis as Sabaya in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria.
“Following a great collaboration with Dogwoof for my previous documentary, ‘The Deminer,’ it was an...
- 12/16/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Stian Servoss and Benjamin Langeland’s take on a Norwegian pop sensation was named Best Nordic Documentary at the 30th edition of the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival. The Norwegian production Once Aurora, directed by the dynamic duo consisting of Stian Servoss and Benjamin Langeland, and devoted to a young musician whose debut studio album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, saw her being compared to the likes of Björk, was named Best Nordic Documentary and awarded €11,000 at the 30th edition of the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival. As argued by jurors Kathy Brew, programmer for DocFortnight, Hogir Hirori and Christine Camdessus, executive director of Fipadoc, the award was in recognition of the fact that, thanks to “its strong cinematic power through its cinematography, sound and editing, this colourful portrait of an artist as a young woman brings...
’The Distant Barking of Dogs’ wins the audience prize.
Swedish director Hogir Hirori’s The Deminer has won the best Nordic documentary prize at Sweden’s Nordisk Panorama. It is the top award of the Malmo-based festival dedicated to documentaries and shorts and is worth $13,000.
The jury said it was “a film which displayed incredible risk taking in following a character who put his life on the line every day, also putting the filmmaker in great danger. This portrait of a military man who dedicated his life to protecting civilians is portrayed through a great combination of archive footage and daring front line filmmaking.
Swedish director Hogir Hirori’s The Deminer has won the best Nordic documentary prize at Sweden’s Nordisk Panorama. It is the top award of the Malmo-based festival dedicated to documentaries and shorts and is worth $13,000.
The jury said it was “a film which displayed incredible risk taking in following a character who put his life on the line every day, also putting the filmmaker in great danger. This portrait of a military man who dedicated his life to protecting civilians is portrayed through a great combination of archive footage and daring front line filmmaking.
- 9/26/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Nordisk Panorama takes place on Sept 20-25 in Malmo, Sweden.
Nordisk Panorama has confirmed the films in its two juried competitions, for Best Nordic Documentary and Best Nordic Short Film, for its Sept 20-25 festival in Malmo, Sweden.
The Best Nordic Documentary prize comes with $12,900 sponsored by the Nordic public broadcasters Dr, Yle, Ruv, Nrk and Svt.
Those 15 films include The Raft, which already won the top prize at Cph:Dox; and The Distant Barking of Dogs, which has won a slew of awards at festivals including San Fransicso, Thessaloniki, Goteborg, Idfa, Dokfest Munich and Oslo.
The Best Nordic Short...
Nordisk Panorama has confirmed the films in its two juried competitions, for Best Nordic Documentary and Best Nordic Short Film, for its Sept 20-25 festival in Malmo, Sweden.
The Best Nordic Documentary prize comes with $12,900 sponsored by the Nordic public broadcasters Dr, Yle, Ruv, Nrk and Svt.
Those 15 films include The Raft, which already won the top prize at Cph:Dox; and The Distant Barking of Dogs, which has won a slew of awards at festivals including San Fransicso, Thessaloniki, Goteborg, Idfa, Dokfest Munich and Oslo.
The Best Nordic Short...
- 7/10/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The Deminer follows a Kurdish mine-disposal expert as he risks life and limb every day. But are documentary-makers – and the audience – complicit?
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Fakhir Berwari – or “Crazy Fakhir”, as the Americans dubbed the Kurdish Peshmerga colonel – did some of the deadliest work on the planet. Without robots or blast suits, he disarmed thousands of mines; first in the aftermath of the second Gulf war, then, after a layoff enforced by the loss of his right leg, during the reconquest of Iraq from the Islamic State. The latter was more dangerous: Isis packed abandoned houses with IEDs in entranceways, under rubble, inside furniture. We see the colonel teetering from fatigue, but always ready to go the extra mile. “Fakhir knew he was the fastest and the most experienced,” says Hogir Hirori, director of The Deminer. “If he didn’t do it,...
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Fakhir Berwari – or “Crazy Fakhir”, as the Americans dubbed the Kurdish Peshmerga colonel – did some of the deadliest work on the planet. Without robots or blast suits, he disarmed thousands of mines; first in the aftermath of the second Gulf war, then, after a layoff enforced by the loss of his right leg, during the reconquest of Iraq from the Islamic State. The latter was more dangerous: Isis packed abandoned houses with IEDs in entranceways, under rubble, inside furniture. We see the colonel teetering from fatigue, but always ready to go the extra mile. “Fakhir knew he was the fastest and the most experienced,” says Hogir Hirori, director of The Deminer. “If he didn’t do it,...
- 4/26/2018
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Festival launches international competition to be judged by audiences.
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
- 1/9/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Tension runs high — maybe too high — in Hogir Hirori and Shinwar Kamal's The Deminer, observing an Iraqi Ied-defuser who paid the ultimate price for his staggering, devil-may-care bravery. Making copious use of archival footage shot while its subject, army colonel Fakhir Berwari, went about his hazardous business in the mid-2000s, this is in some ways a non-fiction counterpart to Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winner The Hurt Locker.
But by keeping a fly-on-the-wall low profile that requires eschewing interview possibilities, Hirori and Kamal never get under their taciturn protagonist's skin in the manner of...
But by keeping a fly-on-the-wall low profile that requires eschewing interview possibilities, Hirori and Kamal never get under their taciturn protagonist's skin in the manner of...
- 11/23/2017
- by Neil Young
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Werner Herzog’s thriller Salt And Fire will have its world premiere at the festival.
Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).
Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).
As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.
Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.
Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury...
Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).
Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).
As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.
Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.
Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury...
- 6/3/2016
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
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