Sound Of Torture
Search the Site
Newsletter Signup
Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about what's going on at the NFCT
Sound Of Torture
Ever since Europe closed its gates to African refugees, thousands of Eritreans have fled the brutal dictatorship in their homeland and traveled north, to Israel. Many were seized by Bedouin smugglers as they crossed the Sinai desert. They are now held in camps and tortured until they pay a ransom. This film follows Eritrean radio presenter Meron Estefanos, who interviews thousands of refugees imprisoned in those camps from her home in Sweden. Through these radio interviews the film touches on many other moving stories. We hear about Hariti, 22, who gave birth to her first child in camp, while her husband tried to collect $30,000 in Israel to purchase their release; and about Timnit, 20, who disappeared along the Israeli-Egyptian border, and is still searched for by her brother.
Festivals and Awards:
Audience Award at the Movies That Matter Film Festival, The Hague, 2014; Special Mention at the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival, 2014; IDFA Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2013; DocAviv International Film Festival, Israel, 2014
Director: Keren Shayo
Producer: Osnat Trabelsi, Galit Cahlon
Production Company: Trabelsi Productions
Cinematographer: Daniel Kedem
Editor: Ayal Goldberg
Soundtrack Editor: Itzik Cohen
Original Soundtrack: Yosef Babliki
Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television,Yes Docu, Radio Canada, SVT, ZDF/ARTE, SRF
Subtitles: Hebrew, English
Film Name in Hebrew: כופר נפש
Category: Human Rights / International Stories / Women
Tag Words: asylum seekers Bedouin border Eritrea refugees Sinai torture trafficking
Ever since Europe closed its gates to African refugees, thousands of Eritreans have fled the brutal dictatorship in their homeland and traveled north, to Israel. Many were seized by Bedouin smugglers as they crossed the Sinai desert. They are now held in camps and tortured until they pay a ransom. This film follows Eritrean radio presenter Meron Estefanos, who interviews thousands of refugees imprisoned in those camps from her home in Sweden. Through these radio interviews the film touches on many other moving stories. We hear about Hariti, 22, who gave birth to her first child in camp, while her husband tried to collect $30,000 in Israel to purchase their release; and about Timnit, 20, who disappeared along the Israeli-Egyptian border, and is still searched for by her brother.
Festivals and Awards:
Audience Award at the Movies That Matter Film Festival, The Hague, 2014; Special Mention at the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival, 2014; IDFA Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2013; DocAviv International Film Festival, Israel, 2014
Director: Keren Shayo
Producer: Osnat Trabelsi, Galit Cahlon
Production Company: Trabelsi Productions
Cinematographer: Daniel Kedem
Editor: Ayal Goldberg
Soundtrack Editor: Itzik Cohen
Original Soundtrack: Yosef Babliki
Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television,Yes Docu, Radio Canada, SVT, ZDF/ARTE, SRF
Subtitles: Hebrew, English
Film Name in Hebrew: כופר נפש
Category: Human Rights / International Stories / Women
Tag Words: asylum seekers Bedouin border Eritrea refugees Sinai torture trafficking