WHAT THE WIND TOOK AWAY

WHAT THE WIND TOOK AWAY

Helin Celik, Martin Klingenböck | Turkey, Austria 2016 | 75 Min. | OmeU

As a tribe of Kurdish nation, Yazidis never had an official land and had to suffer oppression from other countries since the beginning of their existence. Yazidi women additionally have to endure the hegemony of men and it’s strict customs. During the IS attack in August 2014 in Sinjar (Northern Iraq) – the main settlement area of Yazidis – plenty of men were killed and thousands of women kidnapped. What the wind took away shows the destiny of two Yazidi women and how violence and oppression affected their lives. It aims to achieve an intimate insight into their personal experiences during the IS war. 

This poetic documentary makes the audience travel in time and become a part of the nostalgic stories of these young women. By illuminating their stories concerning their gender and their origin it tries to give them a voice that is loud enough to be heard in the western world.