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Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad is a 25-year-old lifeline to the Yezidi community. 

Synopsis

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nadia Murad is a 23-year-old lifeline to the Yezidi community. A survivor of the 2014 atrocities against the Yezidi in northern Iraq, Nadia escaped sexual slavery at the hands of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and witnessed the murder of those closest to her. With the love of her people propelling her forward, Nadia is determined to turn her pain into international action. She now shoulders immense burdens as a key public figure whose supporters are pushing her further into the spotlight – from testifying at the United Nations Security Council and having endless meetings with government officials, to giving soul-baring media interviews and emotionally draining speeches. On Her Shoulders tells the story of a multi-layered and selfless activist who once dreamed of opening a beauty salon in her village as she becomes an essential voice in the fight to bring ISIS to justice and save her people from extinction.

US Documentary Directing Award, Sundance Film Festival 2018

Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad is a 25-year-old lifeline to the Yezidi community. A survivor of the 2014 atrocities against the Yezidi in northern Iraq, Nadia escaped sexual slavery at the hands of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and witnessed the murder of those closest to her. With the love of her people propelling her forward, Nadia is determined to turn her pain into international action. She now shoulders immense burdens as a key public figure whose supporters are pushing her further into the spotlight.

On Her Shoulders tells the story of a multi-layered and selfless activist who once dreamed of opening a beauty salon in her village as she becomes an essential voice in the fight to bring ISIS to justice and save her people from extinction

“This moving film highlights the journey for justice, and how elusive it has been and continues to be for Yezidis, despite the world acknowledging their suffering.” - Rothna Begum, Researcher, Women’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch

To learn more on this topic visit HRW.org

Credits

Alexandria Bombach

Director

Alexandria Bombach is an award-winning cinematographer, editor, and director from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her feature-length documentary ON HER SHOULDERS follows Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. ON HER SHOULDERS premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival where Alexandria won Best Directing in the US Documentary Competition. Her first feature-length documentary, FRAME BY FRAME, follows the lives of four Afghan photojournalists who are facing the realities of building Afghanistan's first free press. The film had its world premiere at SXSW 2015, went on to win more than 30 film festival awards and screened in front of the president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani. Alexandria continued her work in Afghanistan in 2016 directing the Pulitzer Center-supported New York Times Op-Doc, AFGHANISTAN BY CHOICE – an intertwining portrait of five Afghans who must weigh the costs of leaving or staying as the country's security deteriorates. In addition to her feature documentary work, Alexandria’s production company RED REEL has been producing award-winning, character-driven stories since 2009.