Sabaya wins Best Documentary at Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Wednesday the Swedish film Sabaya by Hogir Hirori was handed out a statuette for Best Documentary at the 14^th Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

The biggest award from Asia Pacific’s region, was given out by a jury including filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong, journalist Jean Noh and animator Antony Elworthy.

The documentary follows a group of volunteers who risk their lives to save Yazidi women and girls held by ISIS fighters as sex slaves or ‘Sabaya’ at the Al-Hol Camp in North-eastern Syria.

Swedish filmmaker of Kurdish origin Hogir Hirori said: “This award is not only an important recognition of everything that the ISIS survivors have been through, but it also brings much needed attention to the fight to save the more than 2,000 Yazidi women and girls that are still held captive by ISIS and reunite them with their families.”

The film has racked a dozen international awards since its world premiere at Sundance where it picked up the World Documentary Directing Award.
It was produced by Hirori’s Lolav Media with Antonio Russo Merenda of Ginestra Film, in co-production with SVT, in association with Yle, VGTV, support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute and Film Stockholm/Filmbasen. Dogwoof handles world sales.

Hirori will be giving a Face2Face interview Friday November 12 at the Stockholm International Film Festival where Sabaya is competing for Best Documentary.

The film opens in Sweden November 19 via Folkets Bio.