The True/False Film Fest announces Sonita, a film by Rokhsareh Ghaem, as this year’s recipient of the True Life Fund. Sonita marks a decade of powerful films and deserving subjects sponsored by the Fund.

Sonita Alizadeh is a young, Afghan rapper living undocumented in Tehran, Iran. She shares a home with her older sister and niece and spends her days at an NGO for refugees. There, she goes to class, helps with chores, and performs impromptu rap concerts for her friends.

When Sonita’s mother comes to Iran for a visit after years of only having phone contact, we learn of her plan to take Sonita back to Afghanistan and sell her into marriage. Sonita’s brother has found someone to marry, and the family needs money to pay the mahr (similar to a dowry), for his bride. Selling Sonita as a wife will make her brother’s marriage affordable. Sonita has watched this happen with so many of her friends; she uses their experiences and her own as fuel for her lyrics.  

What follows is a tumultuous struggle– a daughter who seeks independence, a filmmaker who questions whether to intercede, and a developing musician who longs for her voice to be heard. 

Sonita will come to True/False from the Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury and Audience awards for World Documentary. Both Sonita Alizadeh and Director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami will attend all of the screenings at True/False.  

The True Life Fund offers support to a film’s subjects in appreciation of their choice to share their stories with audiences. Funds raised through the True Life Fund will assist Sonita in day-to-day survival and achieving her musical aspirations.

True/False thanks The Crossing, a local Columbia church, for their continued partnership. The Crossing will be sponsoring the True Life Fund for the ninth year in a row.

The True Life Fund is comprised of thousands of individual gifts, matched through a generous grant from the Bertha Foundation. In 2016, True/False hopes to raise more than $25,000 for Sonita. To give, visit www.truelifefund.org, text (573) 818-2151, or donate at the True/False screening.

Last year, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence received the True Life Fund. The fund went to support the film’s subject Adi Rukun and his family in their relocation process.

The True/False Film Fest will take place March 3 – 6 in downtown Columbia, Missouri.