Private Project

Heza (Strenght)

This documentary is about a Yazidi woman who had been enslaved during the attack of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Shengal (Sinjar) which started on 3 August 2014. It tells what she’d lived through in the hands of ISIS, how she managed to escape, and how she carried on with her life after her escape.
Heza, never in her wildest dream thought she one day will be commanding hundreds of men and women fighters in to a battle against the worlds most dangerous jihadist terror organisation (ISIS) and defeat them.
This documentary is a living testimony of Heza’s pain and suffering and her fight for justice

  • derya Deniz
    Director
  • Afat Baz
    Producer
  • Deria Deniz
    Producer
  • Heza
    Key Cast
    "Heza"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Heza
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    action, drama, true story, war, biography
  • Runtime:
    54 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 2, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Iraq
  • Country of Filming:
    Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic
  • Language:
    Kurdish
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • MDOC - Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival
    Melgaço
    Portugal
    August 5, 2022
  • SICILIAMBIENTE AMNESTER INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
    SAN VITO
    Italy
    July 9, 2022
  • BODEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    STOCKHOLM
    Sweden
    April 6, 2022
    BEST FIRST TIME DOCUMENTARY
  • RED AWARDS FILM FESTIVAL - BEST DOCUMENTARY

    France
  • LA INDEPENDENT WOMEN FILM AWARDS
    NEW YORK
    United States
    May 3, 2022
    BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
  • BARCELONA PLANET FILM FESTIVAL - BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR

    Spain
  • BRAZIL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • BUCHAREST FILM IN FOCUS - BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • DRUK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    BHUTAN
    Bhutan
    April 18, 2022
    BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • STOCKHOLM CITY FILM FESTIVAL - BEST FIRST TIME FILM

    Sweden
Director Biography - derya Deniz

Derya Deniz was born in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin in 1985. Her family was from the Siverek district of the southeastern Urfa province. After graduating from the Ivanova University in Russia, she is working on documentary projects and TV programs. She also worked as a TV programmer in the Kurdistan Federal Region, and produced documentaries in Shengal and The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Witnessing the 74th farman of the Yazidi people was the unraveling of centuries-old stories before my eyes. The tales we’d heard from our grandparents actually happened on 3 August 2014. The Islamic State was murdering the Yazidis, the oldest ethno religious commmunity of the Kurds, before the eyes of the whole world because of their beliefs, enslaving them and selling them in slave markets.
But the 74th farman has been different from the previous farmans, resulting in the creation of self-defence mechanisms by the daughters and sons of the Yazidi people. What impressed me most in my visit to Shengal was seeing Yazidi women now capable of defending themselves, as ithe mages of women sold in the slave markets were no longer there. This valiant struggle of the Yazidi women born from their ashes was worth telling and documenting.
Hêza was one of the closest witnesses of the 74th farman. I just wanted everyone to hear and see what happened. I consider my work a debt to all the Yazidi women and children who’d suffered the 74th farman.