HOLY EQUALITY

Dugma: The Button

Year
2016
Country
Norway, Syria
Duration
87’
Director
Paul Salahadin Refsdal

An intimate portrait of four very different suicide bombers working for al-Nusra in Syria. From the Saudi who loves singing and fried chicken, to the 26-year­old British convert who is worried about his new wife, this remarkable film embeds with an unlikely bunch of ‘martyrdom seekers’. As each waits for their turn to go on a final mission, known by jihadists as ‘Dugma’, this film lays bare the faith and doubt at the core of men who give their life for their cause.

CREW:
Director: Paul Salahadin Refsdal
Producer: Ingvil Giske
Cinematographer: Paul Salahadin Refsdal
Editor: Robert Stengård
Sound: Simon Ellegaard, Svenn Jakobsen
Production
Medieoperatørene
Sales:
Journeyman Pictures, journeyman.tv
Awards
2016 – Hot Docs, Best Mid-Length Documentary; 2017 – Festival du Television Monte Carlo, Best Documentary
Director
Paul Salahadin Refsdal

Paul Salahadin Refsdal is a freelance journalist who has spent more than three decades covering conflict around the world; he has previously reported from a dozen rebel groups in countries like Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Peru, Chechnya, Afghanistan, etc. Dugma: The Button was filmed over the course of two trips to Syria.

Selected Filmography

Dugma: The Button (2016)

Hall «GEGEMON»
Zhovten cinema
Kostiantynivska St, 26
Q&A with director
Original language with English and Ukrainian subtitles
22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
The Departure
HOLY EQUALITY
The Departure
Year
2017
Country
United States
Director
Lana Wilson
Duration
87’
HOLY EQUALITY
Sacred
HOLY EQUALITY
Sacred
Year
2016
Country
US, Botswana, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Myanmar, Nepal, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Spain, Ukraine
Director
Thomas Lennon
Duration
87’
HOLY EQUALITY