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Movie about Yazidis, female fighters offers stylized look at Kurdish plight

"Sisters in Arms" casts an artful eye on the plight of Iraq's Yazidi women and the Kurdish women who fought the Islamic State, but critics say its narrative is misleading.
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SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — "Sisters In Arms” from French director Caroline Fourest is a bitter reminder of the massacre of the Yazidi minority group by Islamic State militants after they took control of the town of Sinjar in 2014. Unlike other movies on the subject, it focuses on how Kurdish and foreign women of different backgrounds and beliefs fought back against the jihadists. 

"Sisters In Arms" was shown for the first time in the Middle East at the opening ceremony of the 4th Sulaimaniyah International Film Festival on Oct. 1. Many of its scenes — particularly those of female fighters fighting the extremists — brought cheers, whistles and applause from the audience.

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