The Perfect Story has won the Best Canadian Documentary Award at the Calgary International Film Festival. CIFF is an 11-day showcase of 170+ multi-genre feature and short films for more than 50,000 patrons.

The feature documentary The Perfect Story has been nominated for a 2022 Directors Guild of Canada Award for Best Documentary Editing.

The Perfect Story is a heart-wrenching and provocative look at journalism, belonging, the stories we tell, and who gets to tell them. The film follows the decade-long relationship between Canadian journalist Michelle Shephard and Ismael Abdulle, a young Somali refugee who had his hand and foot cut off by the terrorist group al-Shabab. Their story begins in 2010, when they met during one of Michelle’s reporting trips to Mogadishu for the Toronto Star. Her articles about Ismael sparked a movement within the Somali diaspora that helped him escape Mogadishu and find refuge in Harstad, Norway, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. For nearly a decade, Ismael embraced his new home, learning to speak Norwegian fluently and attempting to adapt to his new country. When Ismael goes back to Mogadishu, an unexpected turn of events forces Michelle to defy one of journalism’s golden rules—“report the story, don’t become part of it”—and makes her question her role as a storyteller.

“a heart-wrenching and provocative look at journalism” – canada.ca

https://calgaryjournal.ca/2022/09/22/new-film-premiering-saturday-at-ciff-uncovers-the-ethical-dilemma-of-relationships-and-reporting/