In this documentary, Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Maryam Ebrahimi takes us close to the Kurdish fighters who played a major role in defeating ISIS, only to be abandoned by their Western allies and hunted by Erdogan’s drones.

This risky project was years in the making because of the dangers and the pandemic, but Ebrahimi managed to make her way to Rojava in northern Syria. We get to know veterans from the conflict who all carry scars; Fadakar lost his legs, Rojda her eyesight, Sorkhin an eye, and Zarin was shot in the head but miraculously survived. There’s both laughs and trauma in the peaceful community they’ve built.

The film itself may not be as cinematically remarkable as these people, but it’s undeniably worthwhile, both painful and hopeful. 

2026-Sweden-Norway. 86 min. Color. Directed and narrated by Maryam Ebrahimi.

Trivia: Original title: De levande döda i Rojava.

Last word: “In the film I describe these four people as part of the same body. When I was there making the film I felt that I automatically became part of that body. I felt that I had to tell their story.” (Ebrahimi, Dagens Arena)