‘Behind the Mask’ on Uyghur linguist, writer, and activist Abduweli Ayup wins prestigious award
The documentary film ‘Behind the Mask’, directed and produced by Håvard Bustnes of Up North Film, has won the award for the category ‘Best Short Norwegian Documentary’ at the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF). The documentary follows Uyghur linguist, writer, and activist Abduweli Ayup as he travels to Germany to confront a former prison guard at a Chinese internment camp for Uyghurs- a meeting fraught with personal and family dilemmas.
Bergen International Film Festival was held between 15 and 23 October in Bergen, Norway. Håvard Bustnes’s ‘Behind the Mask’ was screened during the festival and received the award during a ceremony held at Røkeriet USF.
Since its release, ‘Behind the Mask’ has been screened on numerous occasions, including at the Tromsø International Film Festival, DOC NYC, and Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in Poland. The documentary was also shown at the 2024 ICORN General Assembly in Copenhagen, followed by a Q&A session with Abduweli Ayup.
Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist, writer, and activist from East Turkestan. His work has focused on Uyghurs’ right to education in their mother tongue in the context of increasing persecution within China. In 2015, Ayup fled to Turkey, and in 2019, he arrived in Bergen where he took up a two-year ICORN residency. Abduweli has continued his work from exile which has involved working with the Norwegian Uyghur Committee which runs weekend classes for Uyghur children in Bergen.
'Behind the Mask' will be shown at Det Fria Ordets Hus in Växjö, also an ICORN City of Refuge, on 15 November, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer.
Håvard Bustnes is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer from Norway. His films have been selected for more than 100 film festivals worldwide. You can find out more about Bustnes and his work here.
