Sabaya Film |work| Online

Female volunteers, some of whom are former survivors themselves, disguise themselves in niqabs to identify and locate women held captive within the camp.

The documents the effort to rescue those who are still inside this hell.

To avoid detection by ISIS sleeper cells who patrol the camp with knives and a thirst for blood, Hirori and his fixer, Gulan, went in armed only with a single iPhone and a tiny gimbal. The result is not a polished, narrated history lesson. It is raw, shaky, claustrophobic, and utterly terrifying. sabaya film

Since the film’s release, the Al-Hol camp has remained a crisis zone. Human Rights Watch and the UN have repeatedly called for the repatriation of Yazidi survivors, but political inertia continues.

His camera work is intimate but never intrusive. There is a palpable sense of trust between the filmmaker and his subjects. This is crucial when documenting trauma. Hirori does not exploit the pain of the Yazidi women for shock value. Instead, he frames them with dignity. He waits. He listens. Female volunteers, some of whom are former survivors

It won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival .

uses a "cinema verité" style to put the viewer directly into the rescue vehicles. The tension is palpable as the team navigates a landscape where ISIS supporters remain active and violent, highlighting the extreme bravery required to save these women—referred to by ISIS as "Sabaya" (sex slaves). Ethical Complexity and Perspective The result is not a polished, narrated history lesson

★★★★½ (Rotten Tomatoes: 100% | Metacritic: 84)

Hirori has stated in interviews that he struggled deeply with the guilt of "documenting suffering" rather than stopping it. However, the film argues that by showing the world the ongoing captivity of Yazidis—years after ISIS was declared "defeated"—the film itself is an act of rescue. It forces international attention onto a forgotten genocide.

is a testament to the resilience of the Yazidi community and the selfless individuals who refuse to leave their people behind. It remains a vital, if controversial, document of the ongoing struggle for justice and healing in the wake of the ISIS genocide. surrounding the film or the specific cinematic techniques used during the rescue scenes?