Publish Date: 19 December 2016 - 19:56

TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (MNA) – Iranian director Behrouz Nuranipour’s war documentary 'A157' won the best feature-length documentary award at the 16th Watch Docs, an international festival of human rights films, held in Warsaw from December 9 to 15.

A 157 is the number of a tent in one of the refugee camps on the Iraq-Turkey border. It is home to three Kurdish Yazidis: sisters Hailin and Roken, 13 and 15 years of age, respectively, and their 11-year-old friend Soolaf. The girls survived an unimaginable nightmare: first, they were forced to watch their parents' death at the hands of jihadists, after which they were used by them as sex slaves for many months. Now all three are pregnant. The hell they experienced will never allow them to have a normal life.

“We chose a film that introduced us very closely to the characters and moved us all very deeply. The winner of this award gives insight to an issue often overlooked but is also very pervasive in warfare. It's a very personal story that screams for international attention and action,” the jury said in a statement.

The documentary was irst named best documentary at the 34th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February.

The International Film Festival WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film has been held annually in Warsaw in December since 2001. It combines high-class cinema, mainly documentaries, with public debate.

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