The Yazidi teenager who documented life after her captivity
Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad was taken by Islamic State militants aged 9. After her release she met a filmmaker who gifted her a video camera; it became the catalyst for her recovery.
In 2014, nine-year-old Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad and her family were kidnapped from Sinjar in northern Iraq by Islamic State militants. Mediha was rescued from IS three years later and reunited with two of her younger brothers. Just a teenager, she became their main caregiver. She also found solace for her own healing in an unexpected place when a filmmaker, Hasan Oswald, gave her a video camera. The camera became her 'best friend', allowing her to tell her story with complete control. Her video diaries are the basis of a documentary film called Mediha.
This episode contains references to sexual violence.
Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Eric Mugaju
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad. Credit: Hasan Oswald)
Last on
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- Tue 10 Dec 202412:06GMTBBC World Service
- Tue 10 Dec 202418:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 10 Dec 202423:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 11 Dec 202403:06GMTBBC World Service
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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected
