On Her Shoulders was received with some trepidation at Austin SXSW Film Festival. The fight for recognition of the genocide committed against the Yazidi people in Iraq by ISIS is an important one that deserves recognition. Unfortunately, this film is so muddled that it does a poor job in the effort. The film focuses on the personal struggle and harrowing tale of 23-year-old Nadia Murad to win recognition of the horrors that her people have undergone in the last few years. The film transforms the struggle to one person's personal journey rather than focusing on the tragedy of an entire people. In so doing, it confuses as much as it informs. The questions at the showing were telling. Audience members asked about the history of the Yazidis which is not explained. The film provides little political context on the Yazidis, Iraq or ISIS leaving viewers with little understanding of the underlying issues. The film focused on the footage of Nadia's travels in Canada, Germany and Greece which contained a lot of poorly edited and irrelevant material.
Even the title is problematic since it tries to present a people's struggle as dependent on a single young woman who the producer acknowledged was thrust into this role by accident when asked about it. The struggle doesn't depend on Nadia and the film's focus on her rather than on those who care about the Yazidis around the world does a disservice to their cause. The film concludes with Nadia's appointment as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Human Trafficking. The position is almost irrelevant and does little for the Yazidi cause. This film is a well-intentioned misfire. The Yazidis deserve a better profile of their cause and more direction on how others can help them move forward.
Review of On Her Shoulders
