Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker James Longley Wins Top Festival Award and Prepares Rohingya Genocide Project

Double Oscar-nominated director James Longley won the top award at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival on Saturday with his new film, 'Mohabat'. Longley, who previously earned Oscar nominations for 'Iraq in Fragments' and 'Sari's Mother', announced that his next film will focus on the Rohingya genocide.

Next Project

Longley stated that he has already filmed the first act of the Rohingya project, working with Diane Weyermann at Participant Media before the company shut down in 2024. He noted that next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the 2017 genocide. He added that the United States, the European Union, and the British government formally recognize the event as a genocide, yet no documentary feature has been produced on the subject so far.

About Mohabat

Longley's current film, 'Mohabat', is set in Afghanistan and follows a 12-year-old boy named Mohabat. The child tries to keep his family together under Taliban rule after a U.S. drone kills his father during the first Trump administration while the father is out hunting, with Mike Pompeo in charge of the drone program. Longley filmed the project over two years with local help, partnering with producer Alex Gibney and local producer Mohammad Sharif Hotak. While the film focuses on young boys and children due to restrictions and the direct perspective it offers, Longley noted he could not film women because it would have caused a local scandal in the village, though he pointed out that Afghan women are making their own films in secret on iPhones.

Context

James Longley is known for focusing his documentary work on children and young people living through conflict zones, using their viewpoints to help Western audiences understand foreign countries. International film festivals like Ji.hlava serve as major platforms for independent documentary makers to premiere works and announce future investigative projects.