Special screening of Dilveen: How an 11 year-old Yazidi girl escaped after being kidnapped by ISIS.
Followed by a Q&A discussion with distinguished panelists about their unique experience working with Yazidis in Canada and abroad:
- Majed El Shafie, President & Founder, One Free World International, OFWI.org
- Daniel Roher, Director of Dilveen, Filmmaker and Founder of Loud Roar Proudctions
- Dr. Mavis Himes, Ph.D., C. Psych. is a Toronto-based psychologist and author,www.mavishimes.com
Complimentary refreshments will be served.
Media interested in attending are asked to contact Jamie Ellerton at media@conaptus.com.
About the Documentary:
Dilveen is a Yazidi. Her people have lived in Northern Iraq since it was called Mesopotamia.
For 11 year-old Dilveen, life was good on her family’s farm. She was a normal girl. She played soccer with her friends, went to school and helped her father sell his vegetables in town.
When ISIS invaded the region in the summer of 2014, everything changed. Dilveen witnessed the execution of her father, and became one of thousands of Yazidi girls kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. She was sold to a 65 year-old man, who planned to take her to Syria for marriage.
Dilveen hatched a daring escape plan that allowed both her and another girl being held captive to flee. She was reunited with her family and now lives in Southern Ontario with her mother, aunts, and siblings. She has just started high school and is learning English.
Her story is captured in this harrowing short documentary that juxtaposes haunting hand-drawn animated sequences of the past, with glimpses of Dilveen’s new life in Canada. Through her courage and strength, audiences will come to better understand the atrocities the Yazidi community continues to suffer through.
About the Panelists:
Majed El Shafie is a human rights advocate and founder of One Free World International (OFWI). His human rights journey started in his native Egypt that he was later forced to flee after he was severely tortured and sentenced to death for his conversion to Christianity and bringing awareness to human rights violations related to religious persecution. Read his full bio
Dr. Mavis Himes is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with a full-time private practice in Toronto, Canada. She is also thauthor of “THE POWER OF NAMES: Uncovering the Mystery of What We Are Called” and “THE SACRED BODY: A Therapist’s Journey.” Read her full bio
Daniel Roher is an award winning filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. In 2011 he founded Loud Roar Productions, a boutique production house specializing in non-fiction content. His award-winning short films have been screened at film festivals around the world and generated tens of thousands of views across digital media. Read more about the company