In August 2014, ISIS swept into Sinjar, a town in northern Iraq and home to many of the country’s Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking ethnic and religious minority long subjected to persecution. Regarding the Yazidis as infidels, ISIS killed thousands and enslaved thousands of women and girls, in what is now widely recognised as genocide.
The short documentary Into the Fire follows Hana Khider, a Yazidi woman who heads an all-female de-mining team. Khider works for the Mines Advisory Group, one of the founding members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with its coordinator, Jody Williams. The perilous work of Khider’s crew consists of searching for and deactivating hidden explosives left by ISIS, some disguised as everyday objects, including children’s toys. Directed by the British filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel, the film moves between Khider’s job and her life as a wife and mother, showing two sides of caring for one’s community and rebuilding after the trauma of the genocide.
The film is part of von Einsiedel’s five-part series produced in collaboration with the Nobel Prize and National Geographic, with each instalment focusing on the continuing influence of a different peace laureate.
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Harri Grace, Dan Lin, Mark Bauch
Website: Nobel Prize, Grain Media, Rideback