The Controversy

Steal Away

Filmink News, 17 November 2009

“In the case of Stolen, the film that proved to be the most controversial at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, the creators have had to endure detention, international criticism and public scrutiny after the featured family in the film withdrew their support for the film’s claims.”

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Bondi set to screen Stolen film

Wentworth Courier, 4 November 2009

“Piecing together passing comments and whispered confessions, the pair uncovered a surviving legacy of slavery where black Africans living in the camp remained in a discreet state of bondage to their white Arab masters.”

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Violation of Human Rights?

TIFF Blog, 17 September, 2009

“During the Q&A last night, the audience responded positively to the film…The last question of the session was about how the we can get involved and help the people of Norther Africa who are still living in slavery.”

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Slaves to their art

Sydney Morning Herald The Diary, August 31, 2009

“Ellis, like a cultural Grim Reaper, said to Fallshaw, who blanched: ‘You are going to jail, son.”’

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Slave film recut after claims of inaccuracy

The Age, July 31, 2009

“The Polisario detained the filmmakers when they raised the issue of slavery and the film had to be smuggled out.”

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Film on ‘Slavery’ Ignites Controversy

IPS, July 24, 2009

However, a Human Rights Watch report released in December 2008 points out that “residual slavery practices continue to affect some black residents of the Tindouf camps”

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Reel drama more fiction than fact or lost in translation?

Sydney Morning Herald, July 13, 2009

“There are millions of Spanish speakers who will be able to hear for themselves key conversations about slavery used in the film.”

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Saharan doco whips up a storm

The Australian, June 24, 2009

“The credibility of two filmmakers is under attack and a film the Western Saharans want discredited, if not ignored, will be seen by thousands more people than imagined.”

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Protesters step up campaign to have slave film banned

Sydney Morning Herald, June 17, 2009

“Stolen should be banned from the Melbourne International Film Festival, a Sydney representative of the Polisario, Kamal Fadel, said yesterday.”

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Bitter dispute over Stolen documentary

ABC The 7:30 Report, June 16, 2009

“The place is crawling with United Nations’ officials, with refugee agencies, with NGOs… and if there were 20,000 slaves there, we would have seen them.”

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Confrontation at ‘slave’ film debut

The Australian, June 13, 2009

THE makers of a contentious documentary about the alleged slavery of Western Saharans in refugee camps in Algeria have defended their film, saying its Sydney Film Festival screening is “a little victory for a film that came up against much opposition”.

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“I’m no slave” Western Sahara woman says Australian documentary makers lied.

ABC News with Tony Eastley, June 12, 2009

“But the film makers say they found a more important story to tell – the existence of black slaves in UN monitored refugee camps.”

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I am not a slave, documentary subject tells Sydney Film Festival

Sydney Morning Herald, June 12, 2009

FAITIM SALAM says she is not a slave. Last night she walked into the Sydney Film Festival’s sold-out film about her, Stolen, to defend her freedom.

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Q&A with writer and directors of Stolen

Sydney Film Festival, June 9, 2009

Dan and I decided to make our first film over a beer in a pub after knowing each other just for few weeks, we shared a dream…

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Polisario Front briefly detains two Australian filmmakers at refugee camp

Reporters Without Borders, May 9, 2007

“Western Sahara under Moroccan control and the refugee camps in Algeria are in the areas that are very hard for journalists to visit and work in.

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Journos freed in Sahara

The Australian, May 8, 2007

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the pair had been detained and had been released after “vigorous representations” by Australia’s embassy in Paris.

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