ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Girls of the Sun, a film that follows the fortunes of a group of female anti-ISIS fighters, may not have taken the top award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but it has secured a significant US distribution deal with Cohen Media Group.
The film, by French director Eva Husson, premiered at this year’s festival in the south of France. Cohen Media Group also acquired US distribution rights for Chinese drama, Ash Is Purest White, by Jia Zhanqke.
Announcing the deal ahead of the festival’s closing ceremony, Charles S. Cohen, CEO of Cohen Media Group said: “These films, while set far apart from each other, both geographically and culturally, share an urgency and passion in stories of people whose lives have been thrown into chaos. We’re thrilled to bring both films to wider audiences,” according to Deadline Hollywood.
Starring French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, Girls of the Sun tells the story of a woman who escaped the captivity of ISIS and took up arms to reclaim her village.
The film portrays Bahar, played by Farahani, a lawyer who was visiting her hometown in Kurdistan, along with her husband and child, when they were ambushed and taken captive by ISIS in 2014. She later escapes captivity to take up arms and becomes commander-in-chief of a Kurdish all-female battalion named “The Girls of the Sun.”
Emmanuelle Bercot co-stars with Farahani as a journalist embedded with the female fighters.
The 12 day Cannes Film Festival brought together industry insiders, critics, upstarts, and celebrities. This year's festival was shaken by debate over gender equality in the film industry at Cannes.
The film, by French director Eva Husson, premiered at this year’s festival in the south of France. Cohen Media Group also acquired US distribution rights for Chinese drama, Ash Is Purest White, by Jia Zhanqke.
Announcing the deal ahead of the festival’s closing ceremony, Charles S. Cohen, CEO of Cohen Media Group said: “These films, while set far apart from each other, both geographically and culturally, share an urgency and passion in stories of people whose lives have been thrown into chaos. We’re thrilled to bring both films to wider audiences,” according to Deadline Hollywood.
Starring French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, Girls of the Sun tells the story of a woman who escaped the captivity of ISIS and took up arms to reclaim her village.
The film portrays Bahar, played by Farahani, a lawyer who was visiting her hometown in Kurdistan, along with her husband and child, when they were ambushed and taken captive by ISIS in 2014. She later escapes captivity to take up arms and becomes commander-in-chief of a Kurdish all-female battalion named “The Girls of the Sun.”
Emmanuelle Bercot co-stars with Farahani as a journalist embedded with the female fighters.
Adeline Fontan Tessaur of French distribution company Elle Driver said the firm is proud to have been part of the film.
“We are extremely proud to have been able to bring to light the destiny of these astonishing Yazidi Women fighters with Eva Husson’s impassioned film, Girls of the Sun,” she said, according to Deadline Hollywood.
“It is a great satisfaction to bring such an important film to the American audience.”
Producer Didar Domehri describes the film as “largely a tale of resistance, sisterhood and women joining forces to stand against barbarism.”
“Girls of the Sun will of course be politically-minded but the main idea is to make an epic film that can appeal to broad audiences by focusing on the tale of this heroic woman,” Domehri said.
Director Husson added, “It’s high time a movie about female warriors was made. They’ve participated in wars since the dawn of time but have never been represented on screen.”
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