The drama, which has been dubbed in Arabic and subtitled in English, is based on true events. It charts the story of a man struggling with his identity in the context of the Yezidi minority’s persecution.
The film took four years create.
Shekhani told Rudaw his film has been awarded Best Movie in long-duration foreign movies category. It has also won best in the cinematography category.
“The film talks about the story of people who have been persecuted throughout history, the Yezidi people, the hereditary heir to the civilization of Mesopotamia, which has suffered scourge and … dozens of genocide campaigns to obliterate its deep-rooted identity,” according to the film’s promotional material.
“The film talks about love and peace, about the human affiliation and peaceful coexistence between people, the philosophy of loss and deprivation, the clash between civilizations and religions, the philosophy of the struggle between death and life and a struggle of survival.”
The cast and crew will receive the awards on January 26, 2019 in a ceremony at the Historic Raleigh Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles.
“Congratulation to all the cast and crew for working hard with us until we reached to this cinematic achievement,” the film’s producers told their Facebook followers on receiving the news.
“We also congratulate all our friends and whoever supported us from the starting step until final production. Thanks for your continued support and encouragement during the stages of the film [sharing this] message for humanity and for our people, who have been persecuted throughout history.”
More than 6,000 members of the Yezidi religious minority were taken captive by ISIS when the extremist group swept through northern Iraq in 2014 in a campaign of genocide. Nearly half of the women and girls abducted by the group to be sold into sexual slavery remain unaccounted for.
