THE RETURN: LIFE AFTER ISIS

Search Film, Company, People...

THE RETURN: LIFE AFTER ISIS

EL RETORNO. LA VIDA DESPUÉS DEL ISIS

By Alba SOTORRA CLUA

ALBA SOTORRA S.L. - as PROD

Social issues - Completed 2021

Shamima Begum and Hoda Muthana made it into worldwide headlines when they left their countries as teenagers to join ISIS. Now they want to return but their countries don't want them back.

Festivals
& Awards

Cleveland International Film Festival 2021

Nominee

Hawaii International Film Festival 2021

Best Documentary Nominee

Heartland International Film Festival 2021

Best Documentary Feature Nominee

Jerusalem FF 2021

Best Documentary Nominee

Nashville FF 2021

Best Documentary Nominee

Seattle IFF 2021

Documentary Competition Nominee

SXSW 2021

Documentary Feature Nominee

Warsaw FF 2021

Best Documentary - Special Mention

See all

- Year of production
- 2021
- Genres
- Social issues, Female director, Documentary
- Countries
- SPAIN, UNITED KINGDOM
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Alba SOTORRA CLUA
- Writer(s)
- Júlia BERENGUER, Xavi CARRASCO, Alejandra CÉSPEDES
- Cast
- Shamima BEGUM, Hoda MUTHANA
- Producer(s)
- Alba SOTORRA (ALBA SOTORRA S.L.)
- Synopsis
- Alba Sotorra's exclusive access to Roj Camp in northeastern Syria brings us closer to the harsh reality of a group of Western women trapped by their past as members of ISIS.
  
  Shamima Begum left the UK with two friends when she was only fifteen. American Hoda Muthana emigrated to Syria at nineteen, while inciting her Twitter followers to follow in her footsteps or commit attacks in the US. Alongside them, thousands of women who fell into the clutches of ISIS propaganda are crying out for a second chance at a fresh start in their home countries, while their governments remain impassive, blocking their repatriation. Their departure filled headlines around the world; now, their struggle for return has come back to haunt them, generating a debate that ignites passions in the West.
  
  In an effort to observe without prejudice, the Catalan director portrays with unprecedented closeness and intimacy Shamima, Hoda, Hafida, Nawal and Kimberly, who tell their harrowing stories, revealing why they were drawn to ISIS, the horrors they experienced under its rule, their fears and their hopes for the future.