User reviews

Before seeing Mediha, i had some mixes feeling about the movie, especially regarding the overall method. Deciding to give the protagonist a camera is a peculiar choice. You have to trust the subject so much that she will become part of the movie, somehow a second director. Mediha successfully manages to tell her story in a personal way that has no equal, and paradoxically i now think that the method is the major innovative strenght of the movie, together with the heartbreaking, untold, kept-away-from-the-media story. Mediha is one of the most interesting documentaries of this year and i really hope it will find its audience around the world.

Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2024 filmfestival in The Hague. Lots of issues pass by in this story. Women who return after having lived years under ISIS are not always accepted by their original society, for two reasons. (1) They are generally converted (forcefully, but still) to Islam, something in their (Yazidi) beliefs you cannot simply shake off. (2) Children who came forth from their life within ISIS, are separated from their natural mother and she cannot keep them with her. Such obstacles result in alienating these women from their hometown and their own people, depriving them from a useful future. What are these women to do??

Apart from that, when trying to get these women back, it proves very difficult to find them. They usually receive new names, thereby destroying all traces back to their original life. Also, they are often sold more than once, so following their tracks is far from trivial. So-called rescuers are needed as an intermediary. We see part of this demonstrated when searching for Mediha's lost brother. Eventually they find him in Turkey, where his current "parents" are willing to give him away when granted amnesty for their ISIS misdeeds. His return is not easy for him, however, as he seriously misses his "mother". He weeps all day long while suffering homesickness. For him, this homecoming, albeit happy for the family wanting him back, works out as a stressful event. Understandably, he cannot see the big picture and cannot realize this new family is his actual natural family. Moreover, he must unlearn Turkish too, an extra complication in communicating with him.

Another angle is prosecuting the ISIS-men who stole these women from their home in the first place, forcing them into slavery, and even selling them to other men within ISIS. Some numbers were reported about cases where it was possible to identify the men in question. Alas, it was a disappointingly low number (say a handful in total). In other words, another avenue without success.

Finally, the women in question usually don't talk freely about their experiences, mostly due to commonly untreated and ignored PTSS. The main protagonist in this movie was relatively unique, being able to speak about what happened, in fact a rare example. She was able to pinpoint her captor within a long series of photos shown to her, a tedious session but it had to be done as starting point for the search. Not all women can endure this, without getting overwhelmed by emotions or PTSS.

All in all, a solid and multi-facetted overview to demonstrate the difficulties in this field. Undoing the wrongs involved, is met with very many obstacles, not alone for practical reasons but also because of cultural and religious principles. The movie's urgent message shows clearly that solutions are far away.

Towards the ending of the documentary, a woman tells of the hardships that kidnapped Yazidis go through everyday: a never-ending nightmare where one is confronted daily by challenges that people of the western world only know as kind of extreme (but ever so unreal) narrative expedients, e.g. Sophie's choice. The same woman then concludes by affirming that these are truly the most voiceless people she can think of. The importance of Mediha as a documentary, then, must reside in the attempt to make present what is, in reality, absent. Throughout the whole movie, we see all kinds of people deprived of something essential such as a children, a mother, a brother, innocence. And Mediha, in a way, works perfectly as the catalyst of loss: as a daughter she is deprived of her own mother, as a sister (and in a way also as a mother) of her own brother and as a girl she is in constant mourning of her forever lost childhood. To give her the control of the camera, to intersperse glimpses of her life by her own hands, works perfectly, but only because Mediha never wants to stop sharing. What makes her extremely rare and most deserving of the amplification is, in fact, a truly unbreakable sense of resilience, even in the face of her own community telling her just not to talk, and by proxy to think, about the past. Still, she doesn't refuse to suffer, and wears her scars proudly, with a smile. Symbolized by an ending section where brother and sister reunite, and kids run in the sunset, Mediha is a documentary that stuns for the vein of unchained optimism it manages to transmit.

Mediha is a call to empathy and understanding. A story of horror and hope, of loss and resilience. It invites us to look beyond what we know, the power of Mediha, the young Yazidi girl whose childhood was stolen but found the strength to fight, survive and speak up."Mediha" (2023) struck me deeply. It is staggering how often we forget that behind every war or tragedy there are people with unique and complex stories just like her. Mediha, with her eyes full of courage, reminds us that every number in the statistics represents a broken life, a broken family, a stolen future. Her words are like an urgent call to recognize the humanity. "Mediha" invites us to be more empathetic and to recognize the strength and dignity of victims of atrocities.

Young Yazidi woman, Mediha, tells her story. Through her lens you live her harrowing world, and the post mortem of surviving ISIS.

Director, Hasan Oswald, adeptly empowers Mediha to narrate her journey, skillfully capturing the dark nuances along side glimpses of hope.

They weave human resilience with stark tragedy and the pursuit of justice. You will think about Mediha long after the film ends, humbled and inspired.

-------------------------

• Incredible access
• Poetic cinematography and editing
• Dynamic characters
• Vérité and real
• Important story of Yazidi genocide in Kurdistan
• Depth and emotion.

Mediha, like every worthy and good art, wounds as well as delights. The unique direction of giving the protagonist, Mediha, a young survivor of ISIS captivity, a camera, offers the viewers a very intimate and raw perspective of her journey in survival, trauma and grief.

The dynamic between director and subject is awe-inspiring. Not only has Hasan, the director, so courageously provided us with insight and historical record of extreme social problems, he has given the voiceless a voice and a victim a chance of reclamation. Mediha shows us how through reclaiming our narratives, honest story telling, and the power of friendship, we can transform tribulations into healing potentialities.

The film uncovers dark truths of our world with a profound glimpse into the human experience. Difficult to view, yet essential to understand.

I had the privilege of meeting Mediha at the NYC premiere. She is a big spirit with an infectious personality that lights up the room. Her story has become her legacy and I can't wait to see what will unfold on her path.

Mediha is a stunningly vulnerable story of a girl who has experienced massive trauma reclaiming her voice and her life. The film brings much needed attention to the Yazidi genocide, the consequences of which are still ongoing. I adored how this film gave the camera to Mediha herself, empowering her to tell her own story while supporting her with great care and intention. Mediha is one of the bravest, most resilient women I have ever witnessed on screen and it was a privilege to watch her. Despite the immense heaviness, the film is also threaded through with hope and I'm excited to see what Mediha does next.

This is such an important story told from the unique perspective of a young girl - Mediha - and her brothers. It was heartbreaking, beautiful, impactful - I left the theatre with a sense of awe of Mediha and a deep appreciation of the story of the Yazidi people. This film did an amazing job of bringing to light the nuanced questions and challenges that the Yazidi community faces in navigating the realities of their captivity and life after escaping ISIS captivity. The film beautifully threaded the needle between shedding light on the hardships of the Yazidis, while allowing the audience to get an intimate via into the moments of joy and glimmers of hope that Mediha and her brothers also showed throughout. Thank you for this beautiful film.

Mediha manages to leave you with a sense of awareness and powerlessness towards a girl and, more generally, towards the living conditions of some minority groups who constantly seek peace and justice. Mediha confronts you with an obvious reality that we don't always remember: not everyone has the privilege of living a "normal" life, as we in the Western world perceive it.

Mediha is a teenager who has experienced a life that no ordinary human being should ever dream of living. The right to be a girl, the right to live with her family, the right to live her own identity are some things that Mediha has had to sacrifice due to the situation she has experienced since she was little. But these absences are filled by a willpower and courage that are nothing short of admirable.

Real. Raw. Weighty.

This heart-wrenching story of the resilience and fortitude of a young girl who endure the unthinkable, brings the audience to their knees. The bravery and courage of Mediha's journey gripped the theater as this powerful story unfolded. Mediha's grace and willingness to share her experiences through the lens of a camera and her world brings the viewer to a place where one cannot help but be transformed.

The care and tenderness in which the filmmaker approaches the delicate balance of sharing the horrific nature of some of experiences this young woman endured is part of what makes this film so exceptional. The weight of the story itself is the other part that engages the viewer to reckon with the beautiful cinematography and the ugliness that takes place inside it.

"MEDIHA" is a film all should see.

Mediha is a striking story about facing and wrestling with trauma. It's about taking back control, both of one's own life and the way it is shared. Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad shares her story directly, piece by piece, through video diaries in a way that I haven't seen in film before. As she delves into her time being trafficked by ISIS, she also uses these details to propel the investigation into her captor and her missing family. It's difficult enough to imagine a teenager carrying the burden of this trauma alone, but the strength to do just that, seek justice, and be there as a sister and surrogate mother to her two rescued brothers seems unimaginable; and that responsibility only grows from there!

Through the use of Mediha's self-footage and other impressive techniques, director Hasan Oswald sets an atmosphere that's simply inescapable. You're there. It's a challenging history to tell with a constantly developing future, but he paces it all perfectly; even someone who's never heard of the Yazidi people can digest their gut-wrenching plight and enjoy every victory with every step toward justice.

If a week ago my future-self told me I would have one of the most profound experiences of my life during the debut of the Indie Street Film Festival in Red Bank NJ, watching a foreign language subtitled film, I wouldn't have believed it. Director Hasan Oswald's documentary, Mediha, opened the festival in a way that we the viewers will never forget. Mediha is the story of a young Yazidi girl who at 10 years old was captured from her home in northern Iraq and sold into slavery. She was sold and resold as a slave to ISIS fighters multiple times, yet survived and found strength and determination to tell/share her story through her own lens. I had the honor of meeting the Director and receiving the warmest hug from Mediha at the end of the night. After enduring unimaginable horror, Mediha glows with kindness, energy and light that radiates from her heart into ours. This film is a must see, her story is a must share and the cause is a must support. A million Thank You's to @hasanohhh @medihaalhamad @medhiafilm @indiestfilmfest for touching our hearts. Mediha, you are an amazing, powerful woman and it is my prayer that this film provides you with every opportunity you need to heal and succeed. #liftingwomenup #medihaisaboss #filmsthatmatter. I'm.

"Mediha" is a powerful documentary directed by Hasan Oswald that offers a candid glimpse into the life of a 15-year-old Iraqi girl named Mediha, who, along with her brothers, Ghazwan and Adnan, navigates the challenges of living in a refugee camp after being rescued from ISIS captivity. Through a blend of first-person camerawork by Mediha herself and Oswald's aerial shots, the film sheds light on the atrocities faced by the Yazidi community, where men are executed, women are sold into slavery, and children are indoctrinated into the Islamic State.

Oswald's sensitive storytelling approach allows Mediha to share her experiences at her own pace, respecting her boundaries while still highlighting the resilience and strength she embodies. The documentary not only serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing humanitarian crisis but also celebrates the power of resilience and the hope for healing in the face of unimaginable trauma.

"Mediha" is a compelling and thought-provoking film that demands attention and empathy from viewers, offering a unique perspective on the human spirit's ability to endure and overcome adversity.

This documentary is an intense and raw look inside the plight of the Yadizi in Kurdish Iraq. Shot through the lens of a remarkable young woman who endured many hardships and pain, to find her family, this film is unbelievable and a must watch for everyone.

The director let go control of the film to allow for the young Mediha to paint her picture directly as the producer and cinematographer of the film. I've never seen a film produced in such a way, and the output is a very personal view of the pain and suffering that this relatively small community of people are still enduring, even long after ISIS had been eradicated from Iraq.

Words cannot adequately describe the feeling this movie will impart with you. Must watch!

I recently had the honor of watching Mediha at a festival and it is one of the most impactful documentaries I have seen. Oswald manages to potray the humanity of Mediha, and brings light to a topic that is never discussed in mainstream media. This documentary proves the struggles many women particuarly living under ISIS rule must endure. This documentary respectfully brings light to such a difficult topic. I could not stop watching or looking at the screen, even with the distressing contents at hand because of how brillant Mediha is. I think this documentary should be shown to lawmakers and activists around the world as it shows the true reality of the daily life of women under Islamic rule. Highly recommend watching when you can.