Hawar, Our Banished Childern
by Pascale Bourgaux, Belgium, France, Switzerland, 2023, 74' Greek Premiere
In 2014, thousands of Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS and subjected to sexual slavery. Upon her release, Ana is forced to abandon the baby she had as a result of rape. Considered as “bastards”, all children born from such attacks were rejected from the Yazidi community. After four years of separation, Ana crosses Kurdistan, in secret, to see her daughter Marya.
Director: Pascale Bourgaux
Pascale Bourgaux is a film director, author and war reporter. She has covered most of the conflicts and crises of recent years in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya and Afghanistan. She has won several international awards for her films and books. Her latest film Hawar, Our Banished Children (2023) is the result of eight years of investigation and filming in Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan. It is the first documentary to break the taboo of Yazidi mothers searching for their children, born of rape by jihadists.
