Hawar, nos enfants bannis (Hawar, our banished children) by Pascale Bourgaux

Each week, we highlight films presented in the National Competition during the sixth Brussels International Film Festival.

This section enables the audience and professionals from all over the world to discover documentary and fiction films in their Belgian premiere.

This week, the focus is on the documentary Hawar, nos enfants bannis (Hawar, our banished children) by the Belgian director and war reporter Pascale Bourgaux.

Hawar, nos enfants bannis (Hawar, our banished children)

Presented in its world premiere at the festival Visions du Réel, the film is the result of an investigation into the silence surrounding children born of rape of Yazidi women by jihadists of Daech.

The documentary tells the story of Ana (false name), a mother and a victim, who tries to see the daughter she was forced to abandon. Considered as “bastards”, all children born from the rapes are rejected from the Yazidi community.