Girls of the Sun

Over 7,000 women and girls were taken captive in one swoop by Daesh in the Sinjar Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014. Over half of them are still missing. Some escaped from captivity and formed a unit of peshmerga fighters to strike back at those who separated them from their families, killed their loved ones, and starved, tortured, raped and beat them into submission. Girls of the Sun follows these women into battle, through Daesh tunnels, and into minefields of memories as well as explosives. The women are led by Bahar, a former lawyer, who is searching for her son. They are joined by a French war correspondent who has painful war nightmares of her own. The dark experiences and shared suffering of the women strengthens their bond as they face dangers that would make most people quail.

This gripping and emotional film is based on the truth. It deftly weaves between the past and present in realistic flashbacks. Camerawork revels in the mountains and mist as well as fights and close-ups. A true to life female perspective on fighting war from the standpoints of director, actors and characters. Fresh from an appearance at Cannes, I attended the international premiere of the film at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The director spoke of the challenges of making a film on a four million Euro budget and bringing people together with different cultural touchstones.