Banaz: A Love Story | |
---|---|
Directed by | Deeyah Khan |
Starring |
|
Theme music composer | L. Subramaniam |
Country of origin | United Kingdom/ Norway |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Deeyah |
Cinematography | Jeremiah Chapman |
Running time | 70 minutes |
Original release | |
Release | 29 September 2012 |
Banaz: A Love Story is a 2012 documentary film directed and produced by Deeyah Khan. [1] The film chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British-Iraqi woman of Kurdish origin killed in 2006 in South London on the orders of her family in what is euphemistically called honour killing. [2] The film received its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London September 2012. [3]
Banaz Mahmoud was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and moved to England with her family when she was 10 years old. At the age of 17, her parents had arranged a marriage between her and a man 10 years older than her. Within months the marriage turned violent and Banaz requested a divorce. In the coming months, Banaz fell in love with someone of her own choosing, something which was found to be shameful by her family. Banaz was kept in confinement by her family, beaten, and forbidden to see her lover. She escaped and sought help from authorities, to no avail. She wrote a letter to police, detailing her situation and stating that her father should be investigated if anything were to happen to her. In January 2006, Banaz was killed by family members, in a plot which was initiated by her father. In total, Banaz went to the police 5 times before her death, but did not get the help she needed. Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode of the Metropolitan Police led the investigation to recover the body of Banaz and arrest her killers, securing the first ever extradition from Iraq to Britain.
"…. a completely shocking, revealing, and timely insight into the scourge of 'honour killing'. … quite literally a horror movie tracking the brutal and agonising life, love, and death of Banaz Mahmod who is terrorised and ultimately put to death by the very people who should have loved her most – her family."
Jon Snow, Channel 4 [4]
"…Like watching a car-crash in slow motion the amount of information dredged up in BANAZ: A LOVE STORY suffocates you. You know the outcome, yet here you are taking it all in wondering why the hell nobody was able to stop it from happening......This gradual drip-drip of information leading to tragedy feels much like Dreams of a Life , the account of how Joyce Vincent dropped out of society to die alone in 2003.”
David Perilli [5]
"If their own blood relatives discarded, betrayed, forgot and harmed them, then they are our children, our sisters our mothers that we will mourn, we will remember, we will honour their memory and we will not forget!"
Deeyah talked to Safeworld about her reason for making the film. [6]
Banaz: A Love Story has been re-versioned for ITV's UK investigative journalism series Exposure , for UK national broadcast on 31 October in co-production with Hardcash Productions and Fuuse Films. [7] The re-versioned film for ITV Exposure is named: BANAZ – AN HONOUR KILLING.
Further screenings of Banaz A Love Story:
Year | Award | Category | Result |
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2013 | Peabody Award [9] | International TV Documentary | Won |
2013 | Emmy [10] | Best International Current Affairs | Won |
2013 | Bergen International Film Festival [11] | Best Norwegian Documentary | Won |
2011-2012 | Royal Television Society [12] | Journalism award for Home/British Current Affairs | Nominated |
During the making of the film, Deeyah worked with experts, activists and NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) specialising in the field of honour-based violence globally, which led to a shared recognition of the urgent need for online educational resources and campaigning networks dedicated to the issue.
As a result, the making of Banaz: A Love Story led to Deeyah founding two independent initiatives:
Clare Julia "Keeley" Hawes is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010). She is also known for her roles in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard (2018), in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague.
Deeyah Khan is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the Royal Television Society award for Best Factual Director. She has made seven documentaries to date, all have been shown on ITV in the UK as part of its Exposure series.
Hatun "Aynur" Sürücü was a Kurdish-Turkish woman living in Germany whose family was originally from Erzurum, Turkey. She was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her youngest brother, in an honor killing and sororicide. Sürücü had divorced the cousin she was forced to marry at the age of 16, and was reportedly dating a German man. Her murder inflamed a public debate over forced marriage in Muslim families.
Kurdish cinema focuses on the Kurdish people and culture. The fate of the Kurds as a people without a state shaped their cinema. Kurdish films often show social grievances, oppression, torture, human rights violations, and life as a stranger. Kurdish cinema has a high significance for the Kurds, as it offers the opportunity to draw attention to their own situation artistically. However, because of state repression, most films are produced in exile. The best example of this is in Turkey, where Kurds were not permitted to speak their native language until 1991, which made the development of their films more difficult.
Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to be the voice of British filmmaking, and it showcases features and shorts by filmmakers from around the world to an audience of film executives and buyers, journalists, film fans and filmmakers.
Shafilea Iftikhar Ahmed was a British-Pakistani girl who was murdered by her parents in an honour killing at the age of 17, due to her refusal to accept a forced marriage.
Samaira Nazir was a 25-year-old British Pakistani woman who was murdered by her brother and cousin in an honour killing in Southall, London.
Pakistani Norwegians are Norwegians of Pakistani descent, 65.23% of Pakistanis in Norway live in the capital Oslo. First-generation Pakistani Norwegians, who migrate from Pakistan, are distinguished from the mainstream in several demographic aspects, while second-generation Pakistani Norwegians, who are born in Norway, are well established in Norway and have gone on to become professionals and politicians.
Banaz Mahmod was a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurdish woman who lived in Mitcham, South London, England. She was murdered on the orders of her family in a so-called honour killing because she ended a violent and abusive forced marriage and started a relationship with someone of her own choosing. Her father, uncle and three cousins were later convicted of her murder.
Kurds in the United Kingdom or British Kurds refers to people of Kurdish origin born in or residing in the United Kingdom.
Exposure is a current affairs strand, broadcast in the United Kingdom on the ITV network. The programme comprises long-form films, investigating and exploring domestic and foreign topics. Episodes are produced both by independent production companies and in-house by ITV Studios. The average budget for a single edition is between £150,000 and £200,000.
Fuuse is an independent music, arts and film production company founded by Norwegian artist, Deeyah Khan. Fuuse is an Emmy and Peabody award winning company based in Norway and specialises in creating music and film projects rooted in art, culture and activism to encourage dialogue around social and political issues.
Mark Alan Williams-Thomas is an English investigative journalist, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on This Morning and Channel 4 News, as well as the ITV series Exposure and the ITV and Netflix crime series The Investigator: A British Crime Story.
"White Right: Meeting the Enemy" is a 2017 documentary that aired as an episode of British current affairs TV series Exposure. The documentary was directed by Deeyah Khan and produced by Deeyah's production company Fuuse.
Tulay Goren was a 15-year-old Kurdish schoolgirl from Woodford Green, East London who went missing in January 1999.
Heshu Yones was a 16-year-old Iraqi Kurd from Acton, London who was murdered by her father in an honour killing. Abdalla Yones killed his daughter for becoming too "westernised" and for engaging in a relationship against his orders. He was sentenced to life in prison in September 2003, with a minimum term of fourteen years.
Honour is a two-part British television drama series, depicting the investigation into the real-life disappearance and murder of honour killing victim Banaz Mahmod.
Caroline Goode QPM is a British retired police detective, who served for 33 years in the Metropolitan Police in London and in Counter Terrorism Command.
Rhianne Gabrielle H. Barreto is a British actress. Her work includes the film Share (2019), the ITV drama Honour (2020), and as Rani Rekowski in the BBC One and Amazon Prime Video series The Outlaws (2021–).
Buket Kömür is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the ITV dramas Honour (2020) and Our House (2022), and the Channel 4 horror comedy Generation Z (2024).