Sabaya (film)

2021 Swedish film

Sabaya

Directed by| Hogir Hirori
Produced by|

* Antonio Russio Merenda
* Hogir Hirori

Cinematography| Hogir Hirori
Edited by| Hogir Hirori
Music by| Mohammed Zaki

Production
companies

* Lolav Media
* Ginestra Film
* Swedish Film Institute
* SVT
* Nordisk Film & TV Fund
* YLE
* VGTV
* FilmStockholm/FilmBasen
* Dogwoof

Distributed by| Folkets Bio

Release date

* 30 January 2021 (2021-01-30) (Sundance)

Running time

| 91 minutes
Country| Sweden
Languages| Kurdish, Arabic
Box office| $14,280[1]

Sabaya is a 2021 Swedish documentary film, directed, shot and edited by Hogir Hirori. It follows a group who risk their lives to save sex slaves held captive by ISIS in Al-Hawl, Syria.

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 30 January 2021.

## Synopsis

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The film follows a group into Syria's Al-Hawl, the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, as they risk their lives to save women being held by ISIS as abducted sex slaves.

## Release

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The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 30 January 2021.[2] Shortly after, MTV Documentary Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[3] It also screened at CPH:DOX on 22 April 2021.[4][5] The film has been awarded the Best Documentary Feature Film for the 14th edition of the Asian Pacific Screen Awards in 2021. It is scheduled to be released in the United States on 30 July 2021.[6]

## Reception

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Sabaya received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 41 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sabaya presents a scary and sobering look at human suffering -- and the efforts of those dedicated to ending it."[7] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 86 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[8]

On May 24, 2022 Swedish online magazine Kvartal published an investigation[9] accusing the documentary of having faked scenes and manipulated characters.[10]

## References

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1. ^ "Sabaya". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
2. ^ Debruge, Peter (December 15, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright". Variety. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
3. ^ Lang, Brent (8 March 2021). "MTV Documentary Films Buys Sundance Winner 'Sabaya' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
4. ^ "Sabaya". CPH:DOX. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
5. ^ Rosser, Michael (March 18, 2021). "CPH:DOX unveils 2021 competition line-ups". Screen International. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
6. ^ "SABAYA. Sundance Winning Documentary on Rescue of Female ISIS Captives, Sets July Release Date". Vimooz. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
7. ^ "Sabaya (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
8. ^ "Sabaya". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
9. ^ Hellberg, Ludde. "Del 1: Hjältar i prisad SVT-dokumentär stal barn och erbjöd IS att köpa dem - Kvartal". kvartal.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
10. ^ Hellberg, Ludde. "Del 2: Fejkade scenerna i Guldbaggebelönade SVT-dokumentären - Kvartal". kvartal.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-05-26.

## External links

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* Sabaya at IMDb
* Sabaya at Rotten Tomatoes
* Sabaya at Metacritic
* https://kvartal.se/artiklar/hjaltar-i-prisad-svt-dokumentar-stal-barn/