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The Unreturned

A film screening and discussion with Asli Bali, UCLA Law School. Part of the International Human Rights Film Series.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
James Bridges Theater
Melnitz Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 

Iraq’s continuing middle class refugee disaster is a crucial but unacknowledged reason why durable peace in Iraq remains so elusive. Forty percent of the country’s professional class is now displaced in neighboring Syria and Jordan. Without them, Iraq still lacks reliable electricity, clean water, sanitation, and health-care services. This is an unmitigated disaster for Iraq, a shattered nation that desperately needs its native professional class to return and help itself rebuild.

THE UNRETURNED, filmed in Syria and Jordan in 2008, lets the displaced Iraqi middle class speak for itself. Shot in verité style, with unscripted narration by the refugees in the film, THE UNRETURNED vividly portrays the lives of five displaced Iraqis from diverse ethnicities and religions. Caught in an absurdist purgatory of endless bureaucracy, dwindling life savings, and forced idleness, these Iraqis nevertheless radiate vitality and warmth.

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More on the UCLA International Human Rights Film Series.

Learn more about the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.

Cost: Free and open to the public.

For more information please contact

Johanna Romero
Tel: (310) 825-1181
romero@international.ucla.edu
international.ucla.edu/cnes

Sponsor(s): Program on International Migration, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project