Cleveland International Film Festival } March 30 – April 10, 2022

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The Return: Life After Isis

Year: 2021
Country: SPAIN, UNITED KINGDOM
Run Time: 90 minutes

After the last ISIS holdout was defeated in Syria, thousands of surrendered ISIS women and children remained. Western governments refused to repatriate them, leaving the local administration to decide the fate of the over 50,000 abandoned people. The world has labeled them terrorists, but a group of Kurdish women's rights activists disagrees. Believing these women to be victimized, they enter ISIS detainment camps to conduct rehabilitation programs and advocate for their return home. THE RETURN: LIFE AFTER ISIS enters the Roj Detention Camp in northern Syria, which houses 1,500 women and children from 56 nations. The documentary observes six women, all former residents of the Islamic State lured by ISIS propaganda, over two years as they attempt to return to their respective countries despite repeated refusals. As the women deprogram, process their trauma, and plan their futures, they lean on each other in their fight to provide their children better lives. This compassionate documentary incites deep introspection and challenges popular thinking on women's roles in terrorist organizations and finding a path to redemption. — R.R.