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Examining the Mediterranean migrant crisis in a new way in ‘Until He Returns’

In the past 10 years, more than 25,000 migrants and refugees have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Missing Migrants Project estimates that more than 12,000 people were lost at sea in the central Mediterranean alone during this time frame, their bodies never recovered. Despite these huge numbers, the missing – those who are never repatriated and whose fate is unknown – receive little attention in coverage of the migrant crisis. Director Jacqueline Bailon decided to address this in her documentary, which was shortlisted for an Oscar Until he comes back.

Director Jacqueline Bailon

Courtesy of Carmen Molina

“In general, there’s a much greater response to people who succeed, which there should be, but no response to people who don’t succeed. So there’s not as much effort to try to figure out who didn’t succeed and try to find their remains,” Bailon tells Deadline. “That’s why the story really affected me, because I wanted to focus on the dead and give the dead dignity.”

The film begins in Morocco with Ahmed Chichi, a man whose son Yahya sets out on a dangerous journey across the sea in pursuit of the dream of a brighter future in Spain. On the way, disaster strikes, as happens with many people crammed onto crowded, unsafe boats swaying on the waves, and Yahya joins the long list of the missing and presumed dead.

A boat carrying migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea

A stranded boat carrying migrants in the Mediterranean Sea

Courtesy of Guillem Treus

“When someone is missing… it really changes things,” Chichi says, his eyes wet with emotion. Faisal, a volunteer at the International Center for the Identification of Missing Migrants, later told CIPIMD, “I didn’t want him to leave. Some of his friends left. They told him he could make more money in Spain. His surviving friends called. They told us that Yahya and those with him were dead.” ».

Bailon was photographed Until he comes back In Morocco, in Spain, and on the Mediterranean Sea separates the countries. In Malaga, on the southern coast of Spain near the Strait of Gibraltar, she spent time with María Ángeles, a coordinator with CIPIMD who reaches out to families trying to find missing loved ones.

“It’s about my cousin who came from Oran [Algeria] “To Spain,” says one caller. Another caller says to her: I have a question for you about a missing brother.

Often, María Angeles has no information to give, except perhaps to tell families that a boat carrying migrants has disappeared. “We are looking for her,” she tells them. “Normally, this means tragedy,” she adds to Bailon.

In December 2022, a body washed ashore on the Spanish coast. Indications point to the identity of Yahya, son of Ahmed. Then the forensic process began to determine this for sure.

“Maria Angeles was going to take up the case of trying to help Ahmed with the DNA test and everything so that they could bring the body back home. “That’s how I met Ahmed,” the director explains. “We immediately went to see Ahmed and offer our condolences to him… I think he himself wanted to Sharing his story because he wanted to show the power of closure, which many families don’t get. “I think what he wants is for people to care when a body goes missing.”

A Moroccan man carries photos of his missing relatives in the Mediterranean

A Moroccan man carries photos of his missing relatives in the Mediterranean

Courtesy of Guillem Treus

Bailon approached the documentary project with intimate knowledge of the immigrant experience. “When I was six years old, my mother paid a smuggler in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, so he could cross the Rio Grande on an inflatable tube,” she wrote in a statement to a filmmaker. “My mother’s decision changed my life forever. I knew that if we made it, We will have a chance to achieve the American dream, and we have.

She grew up in El Paso, Texas, and now resides in Spain. “As a journalist, I’ve always gravitated toward stories about immigration, emigration, and civil rights violations, mostly because of how I got to the United States and everything I went through with my mother,” she told Deadline. “For me, this was very personal as I started spending more time in Spain and saw that they were grappling with the same things that the U.S.-Mexico border is grappling with, and kind of similar sentiments: There are people who are welcoming immigrants.” “Immigrants, and of course there are people who do not welcome immigrants.”

Mortician Martin Zamora (right) moves the coffin carrying Yahya's remains

Mortician Martin Zamora (right) moves the coffin carrying Yahya’s remains

Courtesy of Carmen Molina

In Malaga, I caught up with another deeply humane person, mortician Martin Zamora, who for more than two decades helped recover bodies that washed ashore and gave those who remained unidentified a decent burial. In Yahya’s case, after DNA tests confirmed his identity and legal procedures were completed to allow his repatriation, Zamora prepared the body for repatriation to Morocco, carefully following Islamic law.

Until he comes back It shows the full circle of life and death – Yahya’s return to his home, where his father can bury him. The other men in the village are not so lucky. They carry pictures of their missing sons or missing brothers. One of the men told Faisal, a CIPIMD volunteer: “To find our children, we will do whatever it takes! We just want to know, are our children alive?”

Movie poster

BOV/Scripps News Longform

Until he comes back It premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Montana, where it won Best Short Documentary. It also won Best Documentary Short at the Hamptons International Film Festival and was nominated for several additional awards. It was broadcast as part of the PBS series POV It can be streamed now on the PBS app.

Every day, migrants continue to embark on a perilous journey across the Mediterranean, with only a percentage of them reaching their intended destination. Until he comes back It speaks to that pressing humanitarian crisis, but Bailon sees additional relevance for the film in the United States, where a new anti-immigration administration is about to take power in Washington.

“When Trump takes office, the first thing on his agenda is trying to deal with immigration, and he continues to threaten mass deportations,” Bailon comments. “So, I think this [film] It ends up being a relevant topic. While it was filmed in Morocco and Spain, the whole world is moving.”

The director adds: “People are leaving for opportunities because there are no opportunities where they are. People are being persecuted, so they are leaving because of that. And there is also climate change. People will continue to move, and as long as governments make it more difficult for people to get visas to actually move, they will People find ways to do it and risk their lives.

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