DocNZ Film Festival previews its choices

wellington.scoop, December 14, 2009

"A controversial documentary with all the hallmarks of an international political thriller, Stolen... "

link to article ››

Alleen trouwen met toestemming van je meester

de Volkskrant, 24 November 2009

"Een documentaire over slavernij in de Sahara wordt groot nieuws in Australië als de geportretteerde de regisseurs voor ‘leugenaars’ uitmaakt. "

link to article ››

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."

link to article ››

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."

link to article ››

Heavy Friction: Slavery, Sex and Stolen Art at the Toronto International Film Festival

MediaRights, 23 September, 2009

"The Polisario, avowing that it doesn’t condone slavery and needing to safeguard its image on the world stage... began an international campaign against the film. It put out its own video denouncing Stolen, in which several people who Ayala and Fallshaw interviewed say they were coerced or paid by the Australian duo."

link to article ››

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."

link to article ››

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.'''

link to article ››

Toronto International Film Festival: the final list of Australian films.

Screenhub, August 21, 2009

Stolen, the documentary which has so annoyed Polisario, now has an international premiere, at the Toronto International Film Festival, as one of the twenty documentaries on its program. Polisario has many supporters in North America, and it will be interesting to see if they are as exercised by the story as the Australian office.

Link to article ››

Ahead of Time, Stolen and The Sunshine Boy Among Five Added Titles to TIFF

IonCinema, August 19, 2009

“While focusing on a family reunion, the filmmakers uncovered allegations of modern slavery that set them on a journey they could never have imagined.”

Link to article ››

Toronto Adds New Docs; Introduces One Day “Doc Conference”

Indiewire, August 18, 2009

“The moral quandaries within the film have stirred significant controversy since its debut at the Sydney Film Festival.”

Link to article ››

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.”

Link to article ››

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"

Link to article ››

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."

link to article »

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.”

Link to article ››

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.”

Link to article ››

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.”

Link to article ››

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".

link to article »

"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.”

Link to article ››

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.

link to article »

ABC Radio National

June 11, 2009

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...

link to article ››

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.

Link to article ››

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.

Link to article ››