Survivors of Genocide

3 Generations began with our founder’s father, Sidney Bernstein, as he filmed the Allied Forces liberating the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. It served as a reminder for all of us to never forget those atrocities. To continue that very mission, we have filmed multiple short documentaries, feature films and stories from the perspective of survivors.

Our new project began earlier this year when we began filming Yazidi refugees from Northern Iraq. These women survived some of the worst humanity has. On August 3, 2014, ISIS attacked the region around Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq. The region was home to approximately 400,00 Yazidis -  a distinct ethnic group, with similarities to the major monotheistic relations, but still an often-persecuted religious minority. ISIS had openly proclaimed its intent to destroy the “pagan” Yazidi minority through killing, enslavement, and forced conversion.

In October 2014, the UN reported that more than 5,000 Yazidis have been murdered and 5,000 to 7,000 (mostly women and children) had been abducted by ISIL. We were able to hear some of these women’s stories who survived these harrowing crimes. One those women is Zozeya. She is a young mother who witnessed the killings of her family, her friends, and her community. She was kidnapped and sold as a sex slave by ISIS. Zozeya survived torture, starvation and repeated sexual assault. Thankfully, she saved her 3 young daughters and herself. But. those young girls witnessed everything that happened to their mother. And although they made it out alive. they live alone in a small house thousands of miles from their ancestral home with not much possibility of returning home.

These stories are vital for us all to hear and know. Remembrance is a practice we must all abide by. Without memory, we erase not only lives, cultures, and history, but we fall into the same traps over and over again. Check here for more updates on our stories about these brave Yazidi women as we work to uphold the sentiment ‘Never Again’.