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The Sex Slave

This animated sequence features the actual recorded voice of a Syrian victim of Hezbollah's sex trafficking network, who gave us an unprecedented interview in Syria on condition of anonymity. She describes the circumstances of her abduction, rape, six-month enslavement, and ultimate escape, and asks other women who have faced a similar ordeal to come forward and share their stories with the world.

  • Joseph Braude
    Director
  • Joseph Braude
    Writer
  • Joseph Braude
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 23, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Syrian Arab Republic
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Joseph Braude

Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications, studied Near Eastern languages at Yale and Arabic and Islamic history at Princeton. He developed his Arabic to broadcast quality over a seven-year stint on Moroccan national radio and added Persian to his Arabic and Hebrew as a graduate student at the University of Tehran.

He is the author of "The Honored Dead: A Story of Friendship, Murder, and the Search for Truth in the Arab World" (Random House, 2011); "Broadcasting Change: Arabic Media as a Catalyst for Liberalism" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); and "Reclamation: A Cultural Policy for Arab-Israeli Partnership" (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2019),

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Director Statement

Hezbollah uses its enormous power to abuse the people it claims to protect, including and especially women. When a victim of the militia's sex trafficking network in Syria offered to share her story on camera, we resolved to build a platform for her, and do so in a way that keeps her safe. This documentary short uses digital animation and illustrations to accompany her actual recorded voice, both to protect her identity and provide a creative representation of her experience.