2018, Film Prize Finalists

WINNER – Jirga

Director: Benjamin Gilmour

Producer: John Maynard

Screenwriter: Benjamin Gilmour

Starring: Sam Smith, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad, Amir Shah Talash, Baheer Safi, Arzo Weda, Inan Khan

Made under extraordinary, and extremely dangerous, conditions, Jirga tells the emotional story of a former Australian soldier who travels to Afghanistan to seek forgiveness.
Three years after an Australian army helicopter raid on a small village led to the killing of an unarmed man, former Australian soldier Mike (Sam Smith) returns to Afghanistan to find the victim’s family. Doggedly, he sets off on a perilous journey over a terrain where both the Taliban and ISIS are active. Mike is determined to make amends and so puts his life in the hands of the Jirga – the village justice system.