Rizgari

James Lynott decides to leave behind his comfortable life as a white collar worker in London and volunteer for the Peshmerga in their fight against ISIS in Northern Iraq. This remarkable notion of volunteering to fight in a war with no training or experience is an arresting idea for a film. Although the film is from James's point of view, the heart of this film is expressed through the women who make up the Peshmerga and their fight out of a history of repression. This is not a film that indulges in revolutionary romanticism or hypes western saviors. Andrew McSweeney's script is a compelling and nuanced drama that encompasses the human cost in the struggle for the emancipation of women and liberation of Kurdistan against ISIS.