sat 28
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Théatre National > Salle J. Huisman
Nowhere to Hide
Zaradasht Ahmed
Festival des Libertes 2017 Awards:
Special jury award • SMART award
Festival des Libertés Honourable Mention: “A documentary that gives you a hard slap in the face. It was filmed by its main protagonist, Nori Sharif, a medic in the city of Jalawla in central Iraq. He’s an endearing, infinitely human man, but his life is turned upside down when his city falls into the hands of Islamic State terrorists. It’s a documentary that helps us better understand what these people are fleeing and what pushes them to take to the road of exile, despite themselves.”
SMart Award: “The SMart jury was particularly touched by two films which share the common trait of being presented as a journal, made up of personal archives, with some images filmed at risk of life and limb, plunging us into the private, everyday lives of people caught up in political conflicts. Since the award could not be shared by two films, the SMart jury decided to give its award to Nowhere to Hide, an immersive, fascinating film, which throws the viewer from one story to another, as war rages. The film-maker gave a camera to Nori Sharif, an ER medic at an Iraqi hospital, and asked him to film the war’s survivors. After becoming a cameraman, sometimes just filming scenes from his own family life, Nori became a victim of the war himself, when he was forced to flee Islamic State soldiers. This film appealed to us, since it has the raw, sincere force of a family film, made even stronger by remarkable editing, great music and images that are both powerful and poetic. Nowhere to Hide gives us a very beautiful testimonial and makes us feel the unpredictability of history, as well as the infinite damages caused by war.”
Nori Sharif is a nurse in the province of Diyala, in central Iraq. Following the withdrawal of American and Iraqi troops, he decides to stay and film the survivors in this zone known as the ‘triangle of death’. When the Islamic State captured Jalawla, his city in 2014, Sharif continued to film before making his escape, turning the camera on himself and his family once they’d reached safety. This strong, sincere man shares his first-hand testimonial captured over many months.