A Female Sniper Battles ISIS in First Teaser for Venice Title ‘No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman’ (EXCLUSIVE)
A first teaser trailer has been released for "No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman," Halkawt Mustafa's Hollywood-style revenge thriller set during the Islamic State's occupation of Mosul, Iraq. The film will have its world premiere out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival next month, offering a distinct narrative perspective on the ISIS story by centring on a Kurdish-Norwegian female sniper who returns to the city seeking both vengeance and the rescue of her imprisoned younger sister.
The lead is played by rising Kurdish star Avan Jamal, alongside Norwegian actor Thorbjørn Harr, with Mustafa writing, directing and producing via his Norway-based Hene Films AS alongside Janne Hjeltnes and John M. Jacobsen; Rome's True Colours has boarded as sales agent. It is Mustafa's fourth feature, following his 2023 documentary "Hiding Saddam Hussein," and draws on his own encounters with women who fought ISIS, as well as the story of Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, who was abducted during the 2014 Yazidi genocide.
- Teaser drops for ISIS thriller "No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman"
- Premieres out of competition at Venice Film Festival next month
- Follows a Kurdish-Norwegian female sniper seeking revenge in Mosul
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Mosul, once Iraq's second-largest city, was seized by the Islamic State group in 2014 and held for roughly three years before being retaken. The occupation was marked by brutal treatment of civilians, including the mass abduction and abuse of women from religious minorities such as the Yazidis, some of whom later testified about their experiences on the world stage.
The Venice Film Festival is one of the world's leading film events, and films selected for it, even those shown "out of competition," tend to draw significant international attention and can shape a title's chances with distributors and awards voters ahead of wider release.