In 1997, seventeen-year-old Devi was arrested, accused of being a rebel, tortured, and raped in custody. A civil war had just begun. Rebel leaders revealed her as a rape “victim”. Tagged with this shameful taboo, Devi battled depression, social ostracism, joined the rebel frontlines, and rose through the ranks, even serving as a member of the parliament when the war ended.
Shot as an immersive verité, the film travels with Devi, as she consolidates the voices of survivors. As Devi confronts her former lawyer and her counselor, the film dives into deeply intimate and vulnerable moments. Through her diary, supported by archives and sweeping images, Devi reconstructs history erased to rewrite her new destiny.
Subina Shrestha
Subina Shrestha is a filmmaker and a journalist who likes to push boundaries in storytelling. Her work ranges from print stories in the New York Times, to short fiction in virtual reality. Her documentaries on Al Jazeera have been used by various educational institutions.
Rosie Garthwaite
As an Exec Producer at BBC World Service’s Investigations Unit, Rosie is currently based in London making docs and interactives, mainly about the Middle East and North Africa. She founded Mediadante, producing the Emmy-nominated, The Workers Cup (2017), that premiered on the opening night of Sundance 2017.
Heejung Oh
Heejung Oh grew up in South Korea, and her life is divided between Seoul and Amsterdam. She founded Seesaw Pictures in 2017, a boutique production company with a slate of award-winning films. She has (co-) produced films selected for prestigious festivals such as Sundance, Berlinale, IDFA, CPH:DOX, IFFR, and Hotdocs. She loves working with filmmakers with strong artistic visions and sensitivity. She is an alumna of EAVE, Eurodoc, Rotterdam Lab, and Berlinale Talents, and has been invited to the selection committee of IDFA Bertha Fund, Sheffield Doc/Fest, DOK Leipzig, and AIDC.
In the first 2 minutes, the silence begins to crack, awakened by Devi’s calm yet trembling voice like a whisper from a wound that refuses to be forgotten, “For years I have stayed quiet about the violence that I and others like me faced." What kind of warrior am I?” At the age of 17,…
