VIDEO Sibel's Silence, interview with the director

Bruno Chatelin met in Dubuque and Chicago airport with Aly Yeganeh, the director of Le Silence de Sibel (2020) which just won best ensemble cast at JDIFF.

This film tells the story of 13-year-old Sibel, one of the many thousands of girls kidnapped by ISIS fighters. After her entire family was murdered, Sibel was taken as a prisoner and forced into sexual slavery – all in the name of religion.Hana, 40, is an ophthalmologist living in a small town in central France. Of Kurdish origin, she cannot bear t h e atrocities committed against Yazidi women. Hana pays a ransom to Sibel’s captors, then adopts her, and they come back to France where Hana tries to provide her with a normal life filled with nurturing love. Although Sibel adapts to her new life, she refuses to speak; her haunting memories are always present. What lies ahead for this young girl...?