Saving Grace: Assyrian-Australian director debuts short film portraying Christian Genocide in Mosul
By Cal Abbo
Though terrorist threats and Christian hatred spread through Mosul, Grace’s father would not leave his home. The threat of ISIS hanging over his head, his life continued on. He knew he had to protect his daughter at all costs. Whatever happened to him didn’t matter.
As days passed, the violence grew nearer. At the sound of gunshots just outside, he told Grace they would play hide and seek, a game they practiced time and time again, while he defended her with his life.
This is the plot of “Grace,” an award-winning short film made by Chaldean/Assyrian director Brian Patto, who lives in Melbourne, Australia. The film was accepted to dozens of International Film Festivals in major cities across the world like Los Angeles, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Moscow, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Vienna, Berlin, Budapest, Stockholm, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and many more.
At the Prague Indie Film Festival, “Grace” took over. It won four different categories, including best foreign short, best male director, best actor debut, and best actress debut. The film, which is ten minutes long, also won many other awards and finalist rankings throughout its tour. Most recently, it won Best Script in Sao Paulo last month.
“Grace” was also nominated for an AACTA award, Australia’s version of America’s Academy Awards, for Best Short Form Drama, an apt nomination. The film tells a compelling and forceful story, complete with a murky, suspenseful set and excellent acting. Its most important feature, however, is its authenticity: “Grace” is shot entirely in Sureth.
Patto was born in Iraq, but his family escaped from the homeland when he was two years old. He remembers nothing of his native country. At the age of four, they settled in Melbourne, where he has lived ever since. Melbourne and Sydney, the two largest cities in Australia, are home to around 40,000 Assyrians/Chaldeans.
Patto graduated with an honors degree in multimedia from Swinburne University. He started as an editor before he began directing. Since then, he’s directed commercials for clients like Nissan, GMC, Schweppes, and the Australian government.
The film’s journey, Patto said, began more than ten years ago, before Mosul fell to ISIS. “In 2008, there was some conflict between some families involving my cousin from Mosul,” he said. “Al-Qaeda came busting in one day. Long story short, he put his family in the backroom, took out his gun and there was a firefight.”
During the battle, his cousin’s 5-year-old son was killed. The rest of the family eventually escaped to Australia. Patto approached his father about telling the story, who told Patto he should avoid it out of respect. “I asked myself, if I was in Mosul and I had to protect my daughter, whose name is Grace, while preserving her innocence, what would I do? I would disguise it as a game of hide and seek.”
Patto’s film is a microscopic feature of one Mosul household in the summer of 2014. The dramatic father-daughter story is just a proof-of-concept, Patto said, for a full-length feature film which explores the detailed tragedy of the 2014 Christian purge at the hands of ISIS.
And proof it is. The short film’s sweeping success, seemingly out of nowhere, launched Patto and his crew into the spotlight. Now they’re working on a full script which Patto expects to complete this year.
“We need to raise around $15-20 million,” he said, stressing that they have to “do it right.” Patto already spoke with several investors and has locked in over $1 million. “The thing with filmmaking is because it’s so challenging, oftentimes it’s all talk,” he said. “For me, this is personal. This film will get made.”
For Patto, the short film, and eventually the full-length film, contrasts heavily with mainstream coverage of the ISIS takeover in Mosul. Cable news offers 30-second segments about the attacks that don’t do it justice and are forgotten within the day. A feature film, on the other hand, lasts forever. If done well, it will explore the emotional magnitude of the Chaldean exodus from Mosul.
“We need to get backing. If we don’t get backing, it’s not that it won’t happen, but it will be very hard,” Patto said. “I’m talking to as many people as I can around the world. Just connecting and trying to get people interested. You never know who might know someone and then you’re off.”
Patto’s projected budget puts his movie well within the realm of feasibility. As a result, there’s a good chance that a large company like Netflix or Amazon will offer to fully fund the project in exchange for exclusive ownership rights. One of Patto’s wishes, however, is for the Assyrian/Chaldean community to own some portion of the movie.
Just as well, he is dead-set on producing the full movie in Sureth. “It’s not about being the first,” he said, acknowledging that other movies have already been made in the ancient language. “I want to see something of high caliber in our native tongue. I want to be up against the big players. Ladies and gentlemen of the world: This is a language that derives from Aramaic, and it is still spoken around the world.”
Patto’s career thus far has involved editing and directing for commercial clients. Only now has he entered into the private, creative space, where his own cultural experience and hardship is king. “It’s not about the money for me,” he said. “It’s about pride. This one here, this one’s personal. I want the film to come out, and say to the Assyrians and Chaldeans around the world: This is my tribute to you.”
Film festivals require that “Grace” is unreleased for it to be judged. Patto expects festivals to wrap up and the film to be released to the public around May 2022.