‘Waiting for Raif’: Documentary features lengthy battle to free Saudi blogger Badawi
Posted October 30, 2022 3:44 pm.
Last Updated October 30, 2022 6:40 pm.
A new documentary being released later this week is putting the spotlight on the inspiring battle to free Saudi blogger Raif Badawi.
Filmed over eight years, “Waiting for Raif” is the tragic tale of a family torn apart by Badawi’s imprisonment in Saudi Arabia – and the fight to get him out.
The film follows Badawi’s Quebec-based wife Ensaf Haidar.
“This is a film about human rights,” said Luc Côté, who co-directed and co-produced the movie alongside Patricio Henriquez.
Badawi was released from a Saudi jail earlier this year after a decade behind bars. He had been sentenced to a 10-year prison term and 1,000 lashes in 2012 after being accused of promoting liberal views of Islam.
“The happy moment, the very depressing moments, we were there,” said Côté. “So it feels that we know Raif, we spoke on the phone to Raif also. So it feels that we’re very, very, very connected to the entire story, but mainly to the family.”
Award-winning filmmakers Henriquez and Côté captured the challenges Haidar faced in fighting for her husband’s freedom, focusing on her personal journey of transformation.
She arrived in Quebec as a refugee in 2013, watching her three children grow while their father was far away.
“He hasn’t seen the film, and its all things we did for him,” said Badawi’s son Tirad Raif Badawi. “That means in the film there are all the trips that mom made, all the meetings.
“He’s going to see the images that aren’t really in the film and it’s going to be interesting for him to see everything he missed.”
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Around 300 hours of footage was gathered over the years. Editing that down to a 150-minute feature-length film was a challenge.
“That was tough. That was really, really tough,” said Côté. “We did the editing for this film. It was about a year and a half of editing.”
Hurdles remain before Badawi can be reunited with his family. He served his full sentence but is forbidden from speaking publicly or travelling outside Saudi Arabia until 2032.
The first words his son hopes to tell his father when he arrives in Quebec: “Welcome, welcome home.”
Director and producer Luc Côté. (Credit: CityNews/Pamela Pagano)
“These people will be friends for the rest of my life, I know,” said Côté. “They’re part of my family now. So I’m really happy. And I love them dearly, too.”
The film, made in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, can be seen in theatres across Quebec as of Nov. 4.
