Rashid, the Boy from Sinjar (2025)

Jasna Krajinovic | Belgium, France | 2025 | 80 min | PG (Some Violence) A teenager rebuilds his life in post-genocide Sinjar, searching for identity and healing, carrying hope through the trauma of imprisonment. In war-ravaged Sinjar, 15-year-old Rashid struggles to rebuild his life after surviving Daesh captivity. His grandfather was killed, his sister remains missing and the ruins of his hometown reflect the trauma etched deeply into his young body. Amid grief and displacement, Rashid finds fragile stability in the close, intimate bond with his grandmother — his emotional anchor and his last connection to a world that once was. As a future slowly begins to take shape, Rashid’s journey unfolds in the space between holding on and moving forward, an intimate tension that quietly defines his days. Filmed over several years, Jasna Krajinovic’s long-term, compassionate commitment brings rare depth to this coming-of-age portrait. With restrained poetry and clear-eyed realism, the film lays bare the long shadows of violence and war. By staying, witnessing and listening, the director offers not just testimony, but solidarity.