Film Subjects and Partners
Father Douglas Bazi
Fr.Douglas Bazi is a Chaldean Catholic priest that presides over Mar Eliyya Church in Erbil, Iraq. He has been a champion for his people since 2006 when he was captured and tortured by Islamic militants for 9 days before finally being set free. In 2015, Fr.Douglas’ church opened its doors to over 200 Christian families, mainly from Mosul and its surrounding area, who fled overnight when ISIS attacked. He transformed his church grounds to a “refugee center,” practically overnight to accommodate the displaced families. In addition to providing the basics like food and shelter, Fr.Bazi’s refugee center has managed to raise funds to provide its children with academic and extracurricular classes to boost morale and give his people hope for a better future.
Kino Gabriel
Kino Gabriel is currently a spokesman for the military force in Northeastern Syrian known as the Syriac Military Council(MFS), a security force established in 2012 to defend the AssyrianChaldeanSyriac Christian community in the area from Islamic militants. Gabriel and his security forces led Jordan and Helma through various regions in Syria starting with Al Malikiya to film the MFS training camp, to Kamishly to visit Helma’s family, to the front lines again ISIS in Hassake, and to Khabour through the ruins left behind after ISIS invaded the villages in February and took its residents hostage.
Sheelan Gabriel
Sheelan is a Christian woman and native of Ainkawa, the Christian quarter of the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. Sheelan provides humanitarian aid to AssyrianChaldeanSyriac Christians who fled from the Nineveh Plains at the hands of ISIS in 2014 and are now find themselves internally displaced in the refugee camps in Erbil. Sheelan works in collaboration with the local churches as well as several other humanitarian aid groups. Sheelan accompanied Jordan and Helma during their visits to the refugee camps where they saw firsthand some of the harsh living quarters and heard firsthand accounts of refugees that fled their homes in the middle of the night at the hands of ISIS.
Athra Kado
Athra Kado and his family are Assyrians who live in the Christian mountain village of Alqosh in Northern Iraq. Athra’s dedication to his Assyrian community led him to enlist as a soldier with the military force known as the Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU) that was created to protect the Christian village as a result of ISIS attacks on nearby Christian villages in 2014. In addition to the NPU training camp and tours throughout the mountains of Alqosh, Athra also generously welcome Helma and Jordan into his family’s home where they stayed for several days during filming.
In Altum Productions (IAP)
Our last Stand is being produced by In Altum Productions LLC, a documentary production company based outside Washington DC. IAP’s work focuses on international human rights and religious freedom.
IAP is partnering on distribution with In Defense of Christiansand A Demand for Action.
In Defense of Christians (IDC)
IDC envisions a Middle East in which the human rights of every individual are protected and respected regardless of religious creed, and in which the ancient and diverse Christian communities of the Middle East can coexist and thrive peacefully in their native lands. IDC knows that the centuries old existence of Christianity in the Middle East serves as leaven in a complex and ever-changing region of the world. Christianity’s enduring presence in Middle Eastern societies is an agent of peace, development, diversity, and tolerance, bringing greater stability to the region and bridging cultural divides between the East and West.
IDC is an American-based 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the protection and preservation of Christianity and Christian culture in the Middle East. IDC pursues a grassroots mobilization of the Diaspora communities around the world in unity with other concerned Christian communities and all people of good will toward this end. We work to foster global awareness of the on-going plight of Middle Eastern Christians, encourage political advocacy in order to educate national and international policy makers so as to act toward this goal, and promote programs of humanitarian aid in solidarity with suffering Christian communities in the Middle East.
A Demand for Action (ADFA)
A Demand For Action is a global initiative which seeks protection for Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs and other ethnoreligious minorities in the Middle East. We came together in June 2014 from a dozen countries to pool our energy and resources into a unified international effort. Since then, thanks to tireless work of our members, we have been quoted over 3000 times by the international media, reaching high profile media outlets such as Channel 4 in the UK, Fox News, Huffington Post in the US and Swedish Radio.