The Children of Camp Ashraf
Mothers
•
1h 24m
Directed by Sara Moein • Documentary • 2024 • 83 minutes
Parwin and Amir grew up in a military camp. As toddlers they were sent away by their parents who wanted to focus on fighting the Mulla-regime of Iran. 30 years later they are still hoping to reunite with their mothers. Will they ever succeed?
An untold scandal involving around a thousand children world wide, addressing the most urgent issues of our time: exile, identity, radicalization and our inability to see the needs of vulnerable children.
"My mother loves the Mujaheddin and its leaders. But she loves me too. I wonder - who does she love the most... ". Amir Vafa's mother joined the People's Mujahedin as a young and enthusiastic teenager. At the time, the People's Mujahedin, with its strange mix of Marxism and Islamism, was one of the larger organizations fighting the Shah's regime in Iran. When the Shah was overthrown in 1979, the People's Mujahedin continued the struggle against the Khomeini clerics from their new base, Camp Ashraf in neighboring Iraq -- a country that Iran was in a prolonged military conflict with at the time.
When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, the children, growing up at the military base, were sent to supporters around the world. About a hundred of these unaccompanied minors ended up in Sweden. Amir, Parwin, Atefeh and Hanif were placed with their new foster families who raised them to become martyrs in the struggle against theocratic Iran. In The Children of Camp Ashraf, children from this political cult speak on camera for the first time.
Up Next in Mothers
-
Writing Hawa
Directed by Najiba Noori and Rasul Noori • Documentary • 2024 • 84 minutes
Filmed over five years, WRITING HAWA follows three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan. With unique access and empathy, director Najiba Noori films her mother Hawa and niece Zahra in their aspi...
-
Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You, Mommy)
Directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal • Documentary • 2010 • 76 minutes
In 2007 Donna and Jeff Sadowsky of Long Island, New York submitted their dossier to adopt eight-year old Fang Sui Yong from Guangzhou, China. From the very first moment Sui Yong meets her new mother, Donna, we get a real sense of...
-
Four Paths to Dignity
Directed by Gabriela Chaim Tumax • Documentary • 2022 • 28 minutes
Four Paths to Dignity profiles the pursuit of dignity for Guatemalan midwives. The midwives confront challenges, as they battle racism and a health establishment that strives to prevent them from providing care that is culturally...