Nadia Murad and Amal Clooney Take the Yazidis’ Cause to the U.N. (Video)
In this clip from the documentary "On Her Shoulders," lawyer Clooney joins her client, refugee-turned-activist Murad, for a landmark occasion at the United Nations HQ.
Oscilloscope Laboratories
It’s hard to imagine what would cause a commotion on the floor of the United Nations, where international heads of state routinely drop by to offer brief breaks from the daily grind of institutionalized diplomacy.
But when Yazidi refugee Nadia Murad showed up on Sept. 22, 2016, to officially step into her role as the first goodwill ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations, it didn’t seem like business as usual, judging by this clip from filmmaker Alexandria Bombach’s new documentary, “On Her Shoulders.”
The gravity of the crisis Murad is there to address, as well as her air of quiet determination, is offset by the swirl of activity around her, as members of her extended support team usher her in and do some on-the-fly stage directing before she begins her speech. Causing no small amount of chic pandemonium is a different sort of celebrity humanitarian in Murad’s midst—Amal Clooney, who is there in the capacity of her lawyer.
“On Her Shoulders,” which tracks part of Murad’s multistop speaking tour to draw worldwide attention to the genocide by Islamic State of Yazidi communities in Iraq and Syria, opens Friday in the U.S. Click here to read Truthdig’s interview with Bombach.
Watch the trailer for “On Her Shoulders” below (film clips courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories):
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Alexandria Bombach discusses her documentary, "On Her Shoulders," the Yazidi people, and the challenges of telling the story of Nobel Peace Prize co-winner Nadia Murad (pictured).
Director Alexandria Bombach tells Truthdig how she avoided exploiting her subject's traumatic past in making her new documentary, “On Her Shoulders.”
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