A Conversation Focusing on Women and Girls in Forgotten Wars and Conflicts

Mellissa Fung, Journalist, Author, and Filmmaker

Mellissa Fung is a veteran journalist, bestselling author and filmmaker. In 2008, as a field correspondent covering Afghanistan for the CBC, she was taken hostage, an experience that led to her number-one-bestselling book Under an Afghan Sky. Her story, and those of three Nigerian girls, were the subject of her first feature documentary, Captive, which premiered in 2021. Since leaving the network, Fung has focused on human rights reporting. Her work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, the Huffington Post, the Walrus and the Toronto Star, and on Al Jazeera, CNN, PBS and other media. She has received numerous awards, including the Gracie Award, a Commonwealth Broadcasting Association award and the New York Festivals Gold and Silver Awards. Mellissa Fung holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her latest book is Between Good and Evil. Photo credit: Jane McLeish-Kelsey.

Shelley Saywell, Documentary Filmmaker and Author

Shelley Saywell is author of Women in War, (Penguin/ Viking) and her memoir If Only Love, (Random House Canada, 2026). She is also a producer, director and writer of documentary films.  Her films have won numerous international awards including an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.  They have been broadcast in more than 30 countries and selected to screen at film festivals worldwide.  Saywell has been honoured with the Creative Excellence Award from Women in Film and Television, and UNESCO’s Gandhi Silver Medal for promoting the culture of peace.