Filhas do Sol

The story of female Kurdish warriors fighting ISIS to save their hometown and families could've been one of the greatest movies ever. But this movie doesn't get to that level. It's good, but not great. The story of Kurdish determination gets muddled quite a bit by the focus on the French journalist and the frequent flashbacks. Sometimes flashbacks work, and at least in this movie it's obvious what's a flashback. I just wasn't as moved as much as I thought I'd be.

You have here a true, authentic masterpiece in the line of TIMBUKTU or the Tv series BLACK CROWS, but told from another angle. The tale of a bunch of female fighters against ISIS brutality, barbary. Female warriors, amazons of a new kind, women who has nothing to lose, except letting ISIS monsters continue their evil work. That's really a poignant, gripping story about sacrifice, struggle and hate. But also the burning desire to exterminate the indescribable. This story could ahve been a great TV series, so that so many supporting characters may be better described. Coincidence or not, the final part of the film takes place on November Friday the 13th 2015; Black Friday for France, with the Paris and Bataclan killings.

Over 7,000 women and girls were taken captive in one swoop by Daesh in the Sinjar Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014. Over half of them are still missing. Some escaped from captivity and formed a unit of peshmerga fighters to strike back at those who separated them from their families, killed their loved ones, and starved, tortured, raped and beat them into submission. Girls of the Sun follows these women into battle, through Daesh tunnels, and into minefields of memories as well as explosives. The women are led by Bahar, a former lawyer, who is searching for her son. They are joined by a French war correspondent who has painful war nightmares of her own. The dark experiences and shared suffering of the women strengthens their bond as they face dangers that would make most people quail.

This gripping and emotional film is based on the truth. It deftly weaves between the past and present in realistic flashbacks. Camerawork revels in the mountains and mist as well as fights and close-ups. A true to life female perspective on fighting war from the standpoints of director, actors and characters. Fresh from an appearance at Cannes, I attended the international premiere of the film at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The director spoke of the challenges of making a film on a four million Euro budget and bringing people together with different cultural touchstones.

Good movie that left politics aside and displayed the horrors of war from the eyes of women ready to fight. Good filming, good music. Even having to read subtitles it was captivating throughout.

It'd been even better without the reporter. It felt a bit like she only was there to make the movie relevant to white people or something, because her story line didn't really add anything. Maybe it's because it never developed into anything interesting, or because her character just felt out of place (especially at the end). I don't know. Apart from this, it's a very beautiful, and also very painful movie to watch. The cinematography ranges from good to great, same goes for costume design and scenery.

This movie features (somewhat) graphic depictions of torture, sexual abuse, suicide and armed battle. Watch with caution.