THE EARTH HOLDS ME

Sara Mansiera is an independent journalist, author, and director. She is a member of the Fada collective. Her work focuses on women, civil society, the environment, human rights, and conflicts. She has produced several stories and documentaries in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Italy. She graduated in international relations, with a thesis on the exploitation of foreign workers in agriculture and the 'ndrangheta in Rosarno, Calabria. She earned her master's degree in the Arab world and Mediterranean relations in Beirut, where she lived from 2014 to 2017. In 2018, she won the Ivan Bonfanti Award with an article about women, the wives of Islamic State fighters, and the Golden Dove for Peace with the web documentary "Women in the Darkness," which she filmed with Arijana Pagani in Iraq. She received a special recognition at the True Story Award for her investigation on desaparecidos in Syria. In 2019, she published her first book, "Racconti di schiavitu e lotta nelle campagne" (Tales of Slavery and Struggle in the Countryside). She has written and directed short documentaries such as "Iraq: Young People on the Front Line" (ARTE, 2019), "Fight or Flee: Human Rights Defenders in Iraq" (2021), and "The Land Holds Me" (2021-2022). In 2021, she won the Albert II of Monaco Award (UNCA Award) for the web documentary "Iraq Without Water: A Water Journey from Mosul to Basra."