“Sabaya” follows a group into Syria’s Al-Hol, a dangerous camp in the Middle East, as they risk their lives to save women being held by ISIS as abducted sex slaves.
Hogir Hirori edits and films the harrowing rescues of women trafficked for sex and slavery by members of ISIS. The women are Yazidis, a Kurdish minority group who have been displaced by the Iraq War. Some women are being held in the Al-Hol refugee camp/prison which is overloaded with people and the guarding Syrian Defense Army is either useless or getting a payoff to ignore the atrocities inside.
“Sabaya” is what ISIS or Daesh call their sex slaves. Yazidis aren’t practicing Muslims, but their monotheistic religion goes back to ancient Mesopotamia. There’s plenty of horror stories discussed but the genocide in the Sinjar province, where ISIS killed thousands of men and kidnapped scores of women, severely impacted almost every person in this feature. Without the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, there’d be no ISIS.
Every subject’s identity is protected and the men rescuing the women are simply referred to as “the infiltrators.” In the beginning, they send an undercover woman in to help get information to secure the escape of a young woman. Director Hirori continues to interview the young woman and over time, she seems to be healing from the past wounds. There are car chases, shootouts, massive fires, and remarkable Syrian sunsets while survivors detail their traumatic experiences.
206 Yazidi women have been rescued by their organization called the Yazidi Home Center which is based in Syria. Not only does the Home Center have to fear retaliation from ISIS, but they’re also close to an active war zone involving several Nations and ethnic groups. While the word hero gets thrown around way too often, these men are the epitome of one.
“Sabaya” premieres at the 20201 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, January 30th
