Sound of Torture (2015)
1h Documentary
English, Tigrinya and Hebrew
Live calls from the torture camps in Sinai: since Europe closed its borders in 2006, thousands of Eritrean refugees flee their military dictator-ruled country north to Israel, their gate to the west, crossing the Sinai desert. There, many are kidnapped by Bedouins and taken to one of the hidden camps. The multi-award winning film intimately follows Meron Estefanos, an Eritrean journalist-activist living in Sweden since many years, running a popular online radio program, publishing the stories of these camps while recording their inmates' pleas for help. We are with Meron when she searches for Timinit, a girl of 20 years who arrived at the Israeli border but from there is never seen again. And we follow the story of a man who desperately tries to free his wife, who gives birth to their child in captivity. When Eritrea gained independence in 1993, it became a military dictatorship. Military service is obligatory for everyone; women are exempted only when pregnant. Any critic or opponent of the regime faces immediate arrest. Around 3,000 Eritreans flee their country every month, despite a "shoot-to-kill" policy on the borders. In the last decade, more than 300,000 Eritreans have fled their homeland, also to Europe. SOUND OF TORTURE gives a face to those nobody cares about, touching political, cultural, and geographical matters
CREW
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Written & Directed by: Keren Shayo
Executive Producer: Osnat Trabelsi
Producers: Osnat Trabelsi and Galit Cahlon
Director of Photography: Daniel Kedem
Editor: Ayal Goldberg
Sound Designer: Itzik Cohen
Music: Yosef Babliki
Broadcasters: Yes Docu, ZDF/ARTE, Al Jazeera, VARA, SVT, SRF
International Sales: First Hand Films
Awards
Prix Europa Award (TV Iris category) Berlin, 2014
Ofir (The Israeli Film Academy) Award Israel 2014
Best Debut Film- DocAviv Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2014
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva, 2014
Audience Award- Movies that Matter Film Festival, Netherlands, 2014
Silver Palm Award- Mexico International Film Festival, Mexico City, 2014
Festivals
IDFA, November 2013
Goteborg International Film Festival, January 2014
Sguardi Altrove Film Festival, March 2014 One World, March 2014
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva, March 2014
Münchn Komitee Human Rights Watch, March 2014
Movies that Matter, March 2014
Doc Aviv, Tel Aviv, May 2014
Mexico International Film Festival, 2014
Mediteran Film Festival, Bosnia, August 2014
Bergen International Film Festival, Norway, September 2014
Prix Europe, Berlin, October 2014
28th Israel Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA, October 2014
Verzio Human Right International Film Festival, Budapest, Nov 2014
Rotas & Rituais Film Festival, Portugal, Nov 2014
Move It Film Festival, Germany, Nov 2014
Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, Poland, Nov 2014 18th
UK Jewish Film Festival, London, Nov 2014
Amnesty International Documentary FF, Hong Kong, Nov 2014