The world watched with horror in April 2014 when 276 girls were kidnapped from their school dormitory in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria by extremist group, Boko Haram. The non-admission of the atrocity by the then president, Goodluck Johnathan fuelled social outrage and led to the birth of the #BringBackOurGirls movement. Over the years, following government negotiation with the terrorists, 107 girls have been released from captivity but many more still remain unaccounted for.

Five years later, a documentary titled ‘Daughters of Chibok’ has won the virtual reality linear competition at the 76th annual Venice Film Festival. The Joel Kachi Benson documentary follows the story of Yana Galang, one of the mother’s of the abducted schoolgirls who is still missing; she cleans her daughter’s clothes everyday in hopes that she will return. The documentary, through virtual reality, explores the aftermath of the kidnappings and explores global issues such as poverty and the right to education. This win will plummet the story of the Chibok girls back into global attention once more and invite more people to never forget the atrocities committed by Boko Haram; till then #BringBackOurGirls

Watch Joel Kachi Benson’s acceptance speech below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2I8Fk7nZOp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Featured image credits/La Biennale Di Venezia

Tami is a lover of astrology, music and women. Tweet your fave female artistes at her @tamimak_

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