''Banaz: A Love Story'' is a 2012 documentary film directed and produced by

Deeyah Khan Deeyah Khan ( ur, , , born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the ...

. The film chronicles the life and death of

Banaz Mahmod Banaz is a town and district of Uşak Province in the inner Aegean Region, Aegean region of Turkey. The mayor is Zafer Arpacı (Justice and Development Party (Turkey), AKP). Banaz district area neighbors those of two other districts of the same p ...

, a young British-Iraqi woman of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

origin killed in 2006 in South London on the orders of her family in a so-called

honour killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

. The film received its UK premiere at the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

in London September 2012.

Synopsis

Banaz Mahmoud was born in

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

and moved to England with her family when she was 10 years old. At the age of 17, her parents had arranged a marriage between her and a man 10 years older than her. Within months the marriage turned violent and Banaz requested a divorce. In the coming months, Banaz fell in love with someone of her own choosing, something which was found to be shameful by her family. Banaz was kept in confinement by her family, beaten, and forbidden to see her lover. She escaped and sought help from authorities, to no avail. She wrote a letter to police, detailing her situation and stating that her father should be investigated if anything were to happen to her. In January 2006, Banaz was killed by family members, in a plot which was initiated by her father. In total, Banaz went to the police 5 times before her death, but did not get the help she needed. Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

led the investigation to recover the body of Banaz and her killers, securing the first ever extradition from Iraq to Britain.

Film screenings

''Banaz: A Love Story'' has been re-versioned for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's UK investigative journalism series '' Exposure'', for UK national broadcast on 31 October in co-production with

Hardcash Productions Hardcash Productions is a British independent television production company set up by David Henshaw in 1992. Hardcash specialises in current affairs programmes and has won a range of awards - including six Emmys, two BAFTAs, the Prix Italia, ...

and Fuuse Films. The re-versioned film for ITV ''Exposure'' is named: BANAZ – AN HONOUR KILLING. Further screenings of Banaz A Love Story:
Eurodok Film Festival
*Women's International Film & Arts Festival 2013 (Miami) * The Home Office film screening UK 2012 *

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. 2008 2008's festival took place between 14–24 Feb ...

2013 *

Bergen International Film Festival The Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) is a film festival held annually in October in Bergen, Norway since 2000, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films. The festival celebrated its 20th edition in 2019, featuring ...

2013 *WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film IFF November 2013 Poland *

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

screening United Kingdom December 2013 *

Swedish Parliament The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and s ...

screening January 2014 *

De Balie De Balie is a Dutch organization that produces independent journalistic programs about art, culture and politics. De Balie is located at Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, near Leidseplein in Amsterdam. History When the 19th century building of the ...

Amsterdam Feb 2014 *OUR LIVES...TO LIVE FILM FESTIVAL India Feb 2014 *

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...

Thailand March 2014 *

International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) is one of the most important international events dedicated to cinema and human rights, located in the heart of Geneva, "international capital of human rights". The inspiration and ...

, 8 March 2014 *

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

Geneva 10 March 2014 *UN New York 6 May 2014

Accolades

HBVA and Memini

During the making of the film, Deeyah worked with experts, activists and

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s (Non-Government Organizations) specialising in the field of honour-based violence globally, which led to a shared recognition of the urgent need for online educational resources and campaigning networks dedicated to the issue. As a result, the making of ''Banaz: A Love Story'' led to Deeyah founding two independent initiatives: * HBVA (Honour Based Violence Awareness Network), an international digital resource centre working to advance awareness through research, documentation, information and training for professionals who may encounter women, girls and men at risk, building partnerships with experts, activists, and NGOs from around the world. * Memini, an online memorial to victims of honour killing. Memini exists to acknowledge the lives and deaths of thousands who are killed in the ongoing massacre of 'honour' killing. "We seek to create a community of remembrance to end the silence, honour the dead and keep their memories alive, collecting and preserving the stories of women like Banaz, as well as celebrating their strength and courage."

References

External links

Official website
*
Deeyah article about why she made the Banaz filmGuardian article about Emmy award for Banaz

The Observer article about BanazDeeyah interview in Norway about Banaz by feminist publication Fett.
*

Nick Cohen Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for ''The Observer'' and a blogger for ''The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and bega ...

br>article for Standpoint Magazine about Banaz.
{{Honor killing Norwegian documentary films Honour killing in the United Kingdom British documentary films 2012 films Documentary films about honor killing Films directed by Deeyah Khan 2012 documentary films Films scored by L. Subramaniam 2010s British films