I Was a Yazidi Slave

2018

59min

In August 2014 an Islamic State massacre of unimaginable proportions took place during the rapid invasion of the Yazidi people in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. Yazidis, including the female victims, believe that sexual contact with a non-Yazidi, even through rape, results in a loss of Yazidi identity. The film asks what it means to be a survivor of genocidal violence and slavery in 2016. How does one restore the girls’ dignity and help them heal? How do the women get justice for these heinous crimes? The film delves into the lives of the young Yazidi women. This is their story.