The Geneva Grand Prize at the 22nd International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday was awarded to the film Name Me Lawand directed by Edward Lovelace.

The festival also showed the film “Life After Genocide” Kurdistan Iraq – 7 years later, which focused on the atrocities committed by ISIS against Yezidis and the Christian community in Iraq.

Producer Sam Arnold introduces the award-winning documentary, Name Me Lawand. In cinemas now!#AccessibleCinema pic.twitter.com/hyEHlFbetn

— BFI (@BFI) July 13, 2023

“From a disability politics perspective, this film is progressive and powerful. The character of Lawand becomes politicized, embracing his deafness as integral to his identity rather than a barrier to overcome,” the 2024 FIFDH international jury – comprising Alain Kassanda, Chadi Aoun, Ella Glendining, Mariana Lorenzo, and Abdul Aziz Muhamat – said in a statement.

“Through immersive filmmaking and intricate sound design, we are pulled into the intimate odyssey of a young boy navigating childhood trauma and displacement, all while striving to find his place in today’s difficult world. A tribute to all the children out there, facing the incredible.”

The film tells the story of Lawand, a 6-year-old Kurdish boy, deaf from birth, as he tries to adapt to his new environment in Derbyshire, England, after leaving the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 

But just as Lawand is joyfully finding his place in his new home, his family faces deportation.

Name Me Lawand is a production of Pulse Films, supported by the BFI Doc Society Fund, which awards National Lottery funding, and the Electric Shadow Company. It has garnered numerous nominations and awards at prestigious film festivals around the world.