Event
When reconciliation seems impossible
A grandfather in Paris searches for the grandchild he has never met, while trying to understand how his son, Sami Amimour, could become a notorious IS terrorist.
PROGRAMME:
- Doors open 16:30
- The event starts 17:00
- Welcome and introduction by Kjersti Fløgstad, Executive director, Nobel Peace Center and Irene Ueland, founder of Marengarden
- Film screening of Finding Aicha
- Conversation between Myriam Francois, Azdyne Amimour, Georges Salines and Irene Ueland
- Conversation between Irene Ueland and Elisabeth Harnes
- The event ends aproximately 18:45
The conversations will be in Norwegian, or in French with interpreters translating to Norwegian.
The film screening will be in French with English subtitles.
Lola Salines was 28 years old when she was shot and killed in the Bataclan terror attack in Paris. 28-year-old Samy Amimour was one of the shooters. Three years later, 28-year-old Maren Ueland is beheaded by IS sympathizers on holiday in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Together, the fathers of Lola and Samy and Maren's mother have tried to find a way forward through reconciliation and restoration.
The French/Muslim independent journalist and documentary filmmaker Myriam Francois has been following Samy Amimour's father for three years and is currently working on the film "Finding Aicha", which has been nominated for best documentary in "Cannes Shorts". The film is an MPWR production for CBC and the BBC. After the screening, we get to meet the two fathers who both take part in the film, in conversation with filmmaker Myriam Francois. The Norwegian mother, who experienced having her daughter brutally murdered in Islamist terror, and a subject expert also take part in the panel.
About the movie
"The film sheds new light on one of the worst chapters in modern French history, by giving voice to a hitherto unheard perspective. This is the story of the other victims of ISIS. The families caught in the middle. Those we have not yet been able to hear" says Myriam Francois, director of “Finding Aicha”.
Azdyne Amimour, a Parisian grandfather is determined to find his young granddaughter, who is believed to be in a refugee camp in northern Syria. Her father was a notorious IS terrorist who was responsible for the attack on the Bataclan concert hall in November 2015.
As his life and family unravelled in the wake of the attacks, Azdyne struggled to deal with guilt and shame, and with understanding the path that led his “quiet and thoughtful” son to perpetrating France’s worst terrorist attack in modern history. In the face of public disgust and fear, he actively sought ways to contribute to the national attempt to understand the tragedy, and to heal society and himself. In the years since 2015, one objective has sustained him – a vow to find the granddaughter he has never met and bring her home.
You will meet
Moderator: Marte Spurkland is a journalist, non-fiction author and presenter. She has worked at NRK, DN and VG, TV2 and Aftenposten.
Azdyne Amimour is the father of Samy Amimour, who was one of the terrorists behind the Bataclan terror in Paris, and grandfather of "Aicha". He is co-author of the book: "We Still Have Words" which is an attempt to prevent terrorism and is central in the film "Finding Aicha" by Myriam Francois.
George Salines is the father of the late Lola Salines who was shot in the Bataclan terror attack in Paris. He is a trained doctor and is the author of the book "The Unspeakable from A to Z" and co-author of the book "We Still Have Words”, which he wrote together with Samy Amimour's father and which is a story of hope and friendship in the shadow of the Bataclan-terror.
Myriam Francois is an award-winning Franco-Irish Muslim journalist, filmmaker and writer. She completed her PhD (DPhil) at Oxford University, focusing on Islamic movements in Morocco in 2017. She has been nominated as one of 14 “filmmakers to watch” in 2021 by One World Media and is currently the host and producer of the new Al Jazeera English series (2022), "France in Focus", as part of the multi-award winning installment "The Big Picture”.
Irene Ueland is chairman of the board of the Marengarden Peacebuilding Foundation and is the mother of the late Maren Ueland, who was killed by IS sympathizers in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco in 2018. For the past 21 years, she has been managing director of Biå Steiner Barnehage, and has experience as a nature photographer and gallerist. In October 2022, she was honored with the award "dialogue voice of the month" by the Nobel Peace Center.
Elisabeth Harnes is an expert on radicalization and violent extremism, is a family and psychotherapist and has a master's in religious studies with specialization in collective trauma and conversion processes. Harnes has extensive experience from work with the prevention of extremism, de-radicalisation and re-integration work in various contexts. She is employed as RVTS West where she leads the work in these areas and is a board member of the Marengarden Peacebuilding Foundation.
The event is a collaboration between Marengarden and part of the Nobel Peace Center's focus on the importance of dialogue through the series "Those who listen, change the world". In this event, we focus on the dialogue principle "Contribute to forgiveness and reconciliation".
The Nobel Peace Center would like to thank our partners who help support the focus on dialogue: Hydro, Reitan Retail, Stiftelsen Flux and Microsoft.
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