Iraqi writer and Yazidi human rights activist Mirza Dinnayi will be among the panel of judges in the regional competition of this year’s Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, the latter informed on Facebook.
Dinnayi is the director and co-founder of "Air Bridge Iraq," which helps Yazidi victims of the Iraq war, rescues women and children from the ISIS-controlled territories and transfers them to Germany where they receive medical care.
After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s fall, Dinnayi was offered the post of the presidential adviser for minority rights to Jalal Talabani. Mirza worked in this position for almost a year.
On August 14, 2007, two suicide bombers set off car bombs in two Yazidi towns near Mosul. Mirza Dinnayi initiated the fundraising company for the victims and established an organization that helped hundreds of children and women to find asylum and get medical help in Germany including future social rights activist and the Sakharov Prize winner Lamiya Haji Bashar.
In early August 2014, ISIS soldiers occupied Sinjar. The Yazidi escaped to the Sinjar Mountains. Mirza Dinnayi persuaded the Iraq prime minister to evacuate the civilians by helicopter. Dinnayi himself guided the pilots, who didn’t know the local terrain. On August 12, 2014, the Mi-7 helicopter with Dinnayi on board crashed a few minutes after the ascent. With the broken leg and ribs, Dinnayi survived and was transported to Germany. Shortly afterward he returned to Iraq in a wheelchair—to visit a rescue camp in Khanke.
In October 2019 in Yerevan, Mirza Dinnayi received the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
20:21, May 19
Why does Meghan Markle hide her feet? Duchess of Sussex often wears clothes that are too long for her 5ft 6in frame during public appearances12:08, May 19
Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña deliver Cannes’ first hit with trans gangster musical ‘Emilia Perez’10:23, May 18
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez finally reunite amid divorce rumors21:31, May 17
Bianca Censori's family fear Kanye West will 'drag her' into porn19:22, May 17
Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan speaks on the drama success and says she was 'daunted' by her racy sex scenes as she takes the lead in season three13:20, May 17
Kim Kardashian's daughter North West changes her hair! The budding rapper, 10, debuts blonde streaks12:20, May 17
‘Megalopolis’ debuts at Cannes with 7-minute standing ovation11:28, May 17
Ararat: Ladaniva’s new cover on Armenian famous song22:28, May 16
Meryl Streep remembers a dangerously intimate moment from one of her iconic movies20:28, May 16
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Are ‘Headed for a Divorce,’ He ‘Already Moved Out’16:12, May 16
Britney Spears' heartbreaking admission after years-long feud21:18, May 15
Bianca Censori 'furious' over Kanye West's plans to launch porn platform