I had the pleasure of sitting down with director Kristen Blalock and associate producer Mickie Garcia to discuss their film in the making: Survivor in White.  I was grateful they reached out to me about their all female crew that is venturing to Iraqi Kurdistan to share the stories of women who are victims of sexual assault. The all female crew is not just in place to sport #girlpower, but is an important factor in their access to the survivors without re-victimizing them in any manner.

Survivor in White will be a documentary film that examines Seivan Salim, a Kurdish photographer, in the middle of her mission to capture the stories of Yazidi women who survived weaponized rape and enslavement by ISIS.  Their three person crew will travel throughout the refugee camps of Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) for two weeks with hopes that the film will inspire action against these horrible crimes and help the Yazidi women heal and move forward.  I was really inspired from our conversation about yet another conflict that I knew very little about.

Some of the content discussed in this episode is disturbing and involves rape and sexual assault.  If you are uncomfortable with the subject, please listen with caution, but please listen.  It is time we step out of comfort zones to be informed.  This subject is not pleasant to discuss, but like so many of the interviews I have conducted on this podcast are conversations that need to be had.  As you know I love strong women, and these women are no exception.  Advocates for women’s rights and equality, Kristen, Mickie and I had an intense conversation about their project and I am glad to be sharing it with you today.  We also recorded this episode which can be seen on our new YouTube Channel.

IF you enjoyed this conversation, my favor as usual is to please continue to share this podcast with others. It would mean so much if you also rate it and leave me feedback. If you would like to help keep this podcast going and support the work I do, visit my website or Patreon.com/sifumimichan to become a patron of the show.

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Now On with the show.

Discussed in this episode:

UCF Knights

United Nation Exibition on Rape and Conflict

Visa Ban

Nadia Case

Indie GoGo Campaign