My Maysoon
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Filmmaker Batoul Karbijha uses making a film about her disappeared sister as a means of finding out what happened and as a way of dealing with it. For herself, for her family and for all families who lost loved ones on their way to a better future.
Batoul's search takes her from Sicily to Tunisia and to Libya, and confronts her with graveyards full of missing migrants, in a labyrinth of ignorance, indifference and powerlessness.
Batoul's search for her sister also results in a confrontation with her family. They have built a new life in the Netherlands, but 24 August 2014 remains a date on which their lives have been torn apart. It will never be the same again. For years, they have not been able to talk about Maysoon and they silently refuse to accept that she may no longer be there. For Batoul, the search for what happened to her sister is also a means to be able to talk about Maysoon with her family. An intimate process in which loss, pain and hope alternate, depending on the outcome of her search. While Maysoons presence in the family - despite her absence - takes on a more concrete form, Batoul's dual role as sister and filmmaker seems to become increasingly more complicated.
The story of Batoul's search for her missing sister tells a bigger story. Since 2014, 24,495 migrants (according to Missing Migrants Project) have disappeared on the Mediterranean while on their way to a better life. Most of them drowned, but for many even that outcome is uncertain. They are lost at sea. All these missing people have families they left behind. Families and friends who have to find a way to cope. My Maysoon tries to create a picture of the immense pain that lies behind these figures.
Citation
Main credits
Karbijha, Batoul (film director)
Karbijha, Batoul (screenwriter)
Baan, Sylvia (film producer)
Other credits
Editing, Katarina Türler; cinematography, Hans Bouma, Batoul Karbijha; music, Marijn Slager.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:18.360
People told me that time will heal us.
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:24.120
But that was the biggest lie.
How can you heal from losing a sister?
00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:35.760
Since that day, our life has changed a lot.
00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:44.800
We look like a normal Syrian family.
00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:52.760
I am brave, brave, brave, just like David...
00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.200
Emotional.
00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.200
Loud.
00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.080
Messy.
00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:04.200
Sometimes we even look happy.
00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:06.480
But this is only on the surface.
00:01:07.320 --> 00:01:09.800
None of us talks about you.
00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.200
And none of us
hangs your photo in our homes.
00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:19.960
The truth is that since that moment,
we've been living in a silence.
00:02:11.200 --> 00:02:15.000
It's not about talking,
it's that I don't want to remember.
00:02:41.480 --> 00:02:44.400
She's always on my mind.
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.440
I dream about her...
00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:57.120
...and she's always smiling
and feeling comfortable.
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.880
No one knows about this story at work.
00:03:08.320 --> 00:03:12.920
But if someone asks me
how many sisters I have, I say three.
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.680
I don't say any more...
00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:19.040
...maybe because I don't want to believe it.
00:03:28.880 --> 00:03:31.960
Most people, when they talk
about their lives...
00:03:33.040 --> 00:03:36.560
...say "before my marriage"
and "after my marriage"...
00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:40.880
..."before motherhood"
and "after motherhood".
00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:47.080
For me, it's before and after my sister's
accident, because that changed my life.
00:04:01.440 --> 00:04:03.080
Maysoon...
00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:05.840
...today is the first time in five years
I'm talking to you...
00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:10.000
...and it's also the first day
I've decided to look for you.
00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:16.240
I want to know exactly
what happened to you.
00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:21.640
I may not find the answers
to my questions...
00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:27.360
...but I just want to mention you
every day.
00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:31.960
I feel it's my right
to mention you every day.
00:04:42.440 --> 00:04:46.720
I'm going to start making a film
about Maysoon.
00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.120
Did you hear what I said?
00:05:03.760 --> 00:05:06.400
Do you want to say anything?
00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:11.680
What do you want me to say?
Do it.
00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:13.440
Start shooting.
00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.360
I hope it will be good.
00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:24.040
So you're okay with it?
00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:28.280
Yes.
00:05:36.880 --> 00:05:38.480
Oh, my God.
00:05:46.840 --> 00:05:49.640
A bridge has collapsed in Iraq.
00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.320
I'm going to start
making the film about Maysoon.
00:06:07.440 --> 00:06:09.440
Really?
- The one I told you about.
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:11.120
Really?
- Yes.
00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:13.240
That's fine.
00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.160
I hope it will bring
some good to our lives.
00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.440
So you're okay with me making the film?
00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:27.760
Yes, I'm okay with anything you do
for Maysoon.
00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:32.080
What are you hoping for?
00:06:32.200 --> 00:06:39.440
I hope that if the film is released,
it can help us find something.
00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:40.840
I hope so.
00:07:27.840 --> 00:07:30.880
Why don't we talk about Maysoon?
00:07:31.880 --> 00:07:34.160
Because it opens big scars.
00:07:38.280 --> 00:07:41.320
You know I'm traveling to Italy?
00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.400
By yourself?
00:07:44.520 --> 00:07:47.720
No, with my Italian friend, Alessia.
00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:51.160
We spent months
conducting online research.
00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:57.400
We're going to meet Angelo Milazzo,
the Italian investigator of this accident.
00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:09.360
I was talking to Mum,
she feels that Maysoon is in Italy.
00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:11.720
What do you think?
00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:16.360
I don't want to answer that.
00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:33.440
It just feels for me...
00:08:33.560 --> 00:08:37.440
...that we didn't have closure.
00:08:37.920 --> 00:08:43.400
We are still in a process of...
00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.280
...grieving?
00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:51.840
It's not grieving because grief...
00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:54.520
...requires an answer...
00:08:54.640 --> 00:08:58.240
...and sometimes you don't have one.
00:09:30.800 --> 00:09:38.960
Only 24 corpses have been
officially reported and identified.
00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:45.080
More casualties were reported
from other shipwrecks...
00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:50.120
...which received more media coverage
and respect...
00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.640
...than this one, which had
only 24 casualties reported...
00:09:53.760 --> 00:09:56.600
...even though we know
there were many more.
00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.920
There were more than 200 casualties
linked to this one.
00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:05.640
Yes, for sure.
But it didn't happen in Italy...
00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:09.400
...but in waters far from Italian territory...
00:10:09.520 --> 00:10:13.160
...even though
the Italian Navy intervened.
00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:17.600
Your sister's body...
00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:22.160
...didn't arrive in Italy.
I'm certain about that.
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.000
In the videos that I've seen,
there may be...
00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:30.120
...some trace of your sister.
00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.880
We can only see the profile of a woman...
00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.840
...who, from the picture I saw,
could be your sister.
00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:57.600
This...?
00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.240
This?
- No.
00:11:05.280 --> 00:11:07.960
No, this is not Maysoon.
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.360
It felt like the boat
was about to flip over.
00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:23.320
It was moving violently
from one side to the other.
00:11:24.520 --> 00:11:29.520
From this side to that, wildly.
00:11:31.880 --> 00:11:36.240
It felt like it was about to flip over.
I told Mohammed:
00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:40.360
"I will jump into the water..."
00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:46.840
"...then you push Maysoon out,
then you jump in yourself."
00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.640
I jumped...
00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:54.880
...and I looked up at Maysoon...
00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:00.680
...I saw Mohammed holding her,
and at that moment the boat keeled over.
00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:29.440
I pushed Maysoon out,
but the boat flipped over...
00:12:29.560 --> 00:12:33.920
...and the water pulled us in.
00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:38.280
Then I didn't understand anything
that happened after that.
00:12:38.400 --> 00:12:40.960
I pushed her with my leg
to make sure she got out.
00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:47.640
I thought that the one who got out
would have a bigger chance of survival.
00:12:47.760 --> 00:12:50.320
I pushed her out...
00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:53.720
...and the water pulled us in.
00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.200
The boat flipped over on top of me.
00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:04.800
I went down...
00:13:05.760 --> 00:13:08.400
...and I couldn't come back up.
00:13:08.520 --> 00:13:11.600
I don't know what happened after that.
00:13:14.760 --> 00:13:18.120
I died.
I felt like I had died.
00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:24.680
I didn't think I would survive,
because when the water pulled you in...
00:13:24.800 --> 00:13:28.640
...you either knocked your head
against something or you couldn't get out.
00:13:28.760 --> 00:13:32.800
If I had thought I could survive,
I would have held on to her.
00:13:33.800 --> 00:13:38.760
Did Maysoon knock her head
against the boat?
00:13:38.880 --> 00:13:43.560
Was she pushed inside the boat?
I don't know...
00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:46.040
...but the boat went down.
00:13:50.880 --> 00:13:52.880
That's what happened.
00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.760
What happened to me after that
doesn't matter.
00:13:56.880 --> 00:14:00.480
Only Maysoon matters.
00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:06.120
But there were people inside.
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.120
What did they do to the boat?
00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.360
They knew that
there were people inside.
00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:15.840
Those are the ones they saved.
00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:19.720
You see, a lot of them
had already received life vests.
00:14:20.280 --> 00:14:23.280
This is where the operation...
- And they left the boat.
00:14:23.400 --> 00:14:26.160
They left the boat with people inside it.
00:14:26.280 --> 00:14:30.080
What can they do?
- They can take them out!
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.880
What he said to you before,
but I can ask again:
00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.120
They don't have the skill to do that.
- Why are they rescuing then?
00:14:40.800 --> 00:14:45.800
What she wants to know is:
00:14:46.640 --> 00:14:49.280
There's a boat that capsized
with people inside.
00:14:49.400 --> 00:14:53.320
Not everyone received life vests,
we didn't have enough.
00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:57.760
The boat went down...
00:14:57.880 --> 00:15:02.400
...and they knew that
there were people inside.
00:15:02.520 --> 00:15:05.960
They didn't have anyone dive
to take the bodies.
00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.320
Like he said, you have to ask
the government.
00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.280
This is not an operation of saving
anymore.
00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:15.760
It takes years and a ton of money
to recover a boat...
00:15:15.880 --> 00:15:20.200
...and to recover the bodies inside.
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:26.120
Because when a boat sinks,
it's not just a few metres you have to dive.
00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.000
The sea is very deep there.
00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:31.920
And then, frankly, I don't understand
why the Italian state must do this...
00:15:32.040 --> 00:15:36.400
...and not the states
these people came from.
00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:40.920
There are two different operations.
The rescue is what they did.
00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:43.720
The other is diving...
00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.240
...and searching
and collecting the boat...
00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.520
...and this is another department.
It's not these people.
00:16:24.400 --> 00:16:27.920
I can't hide my anger...
00:16:28.040 --> 00:16:30.480
...you know, I'm angry.
00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:33.720
Do you believe the answers
he gave you?
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.320
There is nothing making sense
in this story.
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.640
There are a lot of things that happened
that don't make sense.
00:16:41.760 --> 00:16:44.000
I don't think that
they don't make sense.
00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:48.240
But it's an answer that is not enough.
00:16:48.760 --> 00:16:53.760
It's not enough, but you want me to believe
my sister is dead. I don't want to believe that.
00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:57.520
I don't want you to believe anything
you don't know the answer to.
00:16:57.640 --> 00:17:02.120
That's what Angelo was saying
and what you are now trying to tell me.
00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:06.960
No, I want to tell you...
- That it doesn't make sense that she's alive.
00:17:07.080 --> 00:17:11.600
That's the fact that everyone
is trying to push in my face.
00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:13.680
And I don't want to believe it.
00:17:13.800 --> 00:17:17.440
There is part of me saying
Maysoon might be alive...
00:17:17.560 --> 00:17:19.880
...and I don't want to believe
she is dead.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.520
I don't want to believe
that the girl who lived with me...
00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:27.560
...in the same room for 20 years,
is dead...
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.560
...she didn't continue her life,
she didn't achieve anything in her life...
00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:35.000
...and I don't want to believe
that she is dead.
00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:38.760
I'm her sister. I'm crazy.
I don't make sense.
00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:53.000
Why didn't you name her Maysoon?
00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.080
Mum didn't approve.
00:17:57.840 --> 00:18:01.080
Meaning...
00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.960
...she loves Jana, we all love her...
00:18:08.080 --> 00:18:11.000
...but no one can take
Maysoon's place.
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:18.760
If I asked you to describe Maysoon,
what do you remember most about her?
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:20.160
Her smile.
00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:23.920
Her smile and her dimples.
00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:30.760
She was the one among us
who laughed the most from the heart.
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.760
Her smile was amazing.
00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.000
Jana has the same dimples as Maysoon.
00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:44.200
How many sisters does Dad have?
00:18:44.320 --> 00:18:46.360
He has 1, 2, 3.
00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.320
Three?
00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:50.280
Maysoon...
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.480
...Auntie Nour...
00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:53.680
...and Batoul.
00:18:53.800 --> 00:18:55.320
I'm Batoul.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.200
Maysoon is on a faraway journey.
00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:03.440
Can I call Maysoon?
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:06.880
She doesn't have a phone.
- Why?
00:19:10.120 --> 00:19:16.680
I don't know why, but she told me
that she loves you a lot.
00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:21.360
How did she tell you that
if you can't hear her?
00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:22.920
I heard her.
00:19:23.040 --> 00:19:28.240
How do you hear her,
if you can't visit her?
00:19:29.840 --> 00:19:33.800
Where did you get these from?
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.000
This is also Maysoon.
00:19:36.120 --> 00:19:42.160
Is this a guitar?
- Yes, she was making music.
00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:46.480
It's something similar to a guitar,
called a lute.
00:20:02.120 --> 00:20:04.360
Maysoon had an amazing voice.
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:09.240
I think that her voice is better
than she thought it was.
00:20:09.360 --> 00:20:14.040
When she sang, she moved me.
00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.360
She made me listen to her sing each day
for half an hour, to hear my opinion.
00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:23.520
She looks like Mum.
00:20:28.520 --> 00:20:32.280
She was a decent person.
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:35.920
And calm.
She was very musical.
00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:45.000
She studied at the High Institute of Arts
and Music, and did Architecture at university.
00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:47.600
All Maysoon.
00:20:50.120 --> 00:20:53.720
I want to show them to Aarnoud.
00:20:53.840 --> 00:20:57.280
This is Batoul and Maysoon.
00:20:59.040 --> 00:21:02.560
My father is the sister of Maysoon and...
00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.480
Your father is the brother of Maysoon.
00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.640
What is this on the table?
00:21:11.760 --> 00:21:13.760
That's candle wax.
00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:30.160
When the regime arrested and tortured
our brother, we were devastated.
00:21:30.280 --> 00:21:33.280
When he was released,
our parents wanted to leave fast.
00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:41.200
They said that if we stayed and
refused to travel, one of us might die.
00:21:43.040 --> 00:21:45.400
I feel bad for Mohammed.
00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:49.520
On top of what happened to him,
he lost you, Maysoon.
00:21:51.560 --> 00:21:53.840
I don't know why they arrested me.
00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:59.400
I asked them to investigate me...
00:21:59.520 --> 00:22:02.600
...because my life was under threat
if I stayed in the country.
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.520
They investigated me...
00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:10.080
...claiming that...
00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:15.200
...I wrote a post about the Syrian Army
on Facebook. But it wasn't true.
00:22:15.320 --> 00:22:19.520
I offered to give them my username
and password...
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:23.640
...so they could check my history.
They wouldn't find anything.
00:22:23.760 --> 00:22:31.560
So they just pressure you
until you confess.
00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:37.080
I remember that...
00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:42.080
...years ago, when you started the project,
was it your brother that had a connection?
00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:48.720
Yeah, he submitted the request in 2014.
- And this is the first time they call you back?
00:22:48.840 --> 00:22:50.520
Yes.
- From 2014?
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:55.400
Yeah. They had many meetings
with my brother, but nothing happened.
00:22:57.360 --> 00:23:02.280
Welcome today. My name is Lucia.
You are here to speak about Maysoon.
00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.560
Rami, Diaa and Maysoon went missing.
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.680
My father and my brother
and Karam survived.
00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:13.040
I have a list.
00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:15.360
We just found it, actually.
00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.880
Of all the names of people
who went missing.
00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.600
Thanks to this
we discovered that 70 people...
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.760
...maybe the number is wrong,
I will double-check the number...
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:30.960
...but around 70 people were found in Tunisia
and we didn't know about that.
00:23:31.080 --> 00:23:35.000
The number of the missing is around 170...
00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:40.760
...because we have this list,
we have the 24 people in Italy...
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:43.080
...but we don't know the exact number.
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.600
Basically Zuwarah in Libya is around here...
00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.840
...and here is where they found the bodies.
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.360
There were also 40 or 50 bodies
found in Libya.
00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:00.960
But do you work with the Red Cross
in Italy, Tunisia, Libya?
00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:02.840
Yeah, we work together.
00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:07.440
It varies per country what is possible,
but we are connected.
00:24:07.560 --> 00:24:10.760
I have to check what is possible
in each country...
00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.880
...and they can see
if the physical description we make...
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:20.200
...matches the information they have.
The information about bodies found.
00:24:20.320 --> 00:24:24.240
I have to be very honest with you:
this is a hard conversation...
00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:29.960
...the whole search can take a long time and
often there is no result, nobody is found.
00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:01.600
Welcome.
- You haven't changed at all.
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:06.040
Really? I don't look older?
- Not at all.
00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:13.800
This is a messed-up world.
00:25:22.760 --> 00:25:24.680
Don't cry.
00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.960
Okay, come in.
00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:39.120
Every success I've had in my work
was because of Maysoon.
00:25:40.040 --> 00:25:47.200
Everyone who considers Taher
to be a good architect...
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:54.200
...should know that the first project I got
belonged to Maysoon.
00:25:54.320 --> 00:25:57.720
I finished it for her
and it was a big success.
00:25:57.840 --> 00:26:00.440
Many clients came to me after that.
00:26:01.520 --> 00:26:03.960
It's hard when people ask me
how I started my work...
00:26:04.080 --> 00:26:09.280
...and I say I finished a project
of my girlfriend's who isn't here anymore.
00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.920
I'm selfish when it comes to Maysoon,
very selfish.
00:26:13.040 --> 00:26:15.880
I feel like I'm the only one who's sad.
00:26:17.080 --> 00:26:23.480
I wanted to come and blame you
because you pushed her to travel.
00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.120
Did you come to blame me today?
- No.
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.920
Honestly?
- No, but that's definitely how I felt at the time.
00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:34.720
Definitely.
00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:40.120
Taher?
00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:43.880
Tell me that you love me.
- I love you.
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.840
Once, we were out with friends...
00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:51.360
...and we saw a little girl called Selena.
00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:55.120
We played with her,
she was playing in the water.
00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:59.600
We decided that if we had a girl,
we would call her Selena.
00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:04.960
We went shopping...
00:27:05.080 --> 00:27:12.000
...and we bought a dress for a baby girl,
for Selena. I still have it in Syria.
00:27:14.280 --> 00:27:16.000
I went back...
00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:20.520
...to hug the dress and I cried.
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:29.960
I asked Nour, and she said that
Mohammed told her Maysoon was gone.
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:33.480
I will never forget this word.
00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:37.160
The route.
00:27:37.280 --> 00:27:40.920
I wasn't at all aware of
the route they took.
00:27:41.040 --> 00:27:43.720
I asked Maysoon, where are you going now?
00:27:44.600 --> 00:27:47.000
To my death, she answered.
00:27:51.040 --> 00:27:53.800
I believe people can feel these things.
00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:58.560
She felt it.
00:28:01.760 --> 00:28:04.480
I was able to communicate with Nour.
00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:07.440
I couldn't talk to you.
00:28:10.080 --> 00:28:12.560
Why not to me?
- I don't know why.
00:28:13.880 --> 00:28:21.160
Because you were the first one who travelled.
It may have been your right...
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:24.280
...but you can't prevent me...
00:28:28.760 --> 00:28:30.760
Give me a second.
00:28:33.800 --> 00:28:37.200
But I was the reason?
- You are not.
00:28:38.280 --> 00:28:43.280
I couldn't talk to Mohammed.
I knew he was in a lot of pain.
00:28:44.040 --> 00:28:45.600
What could I say to him?
00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:50.040
"Why didn't you hold her better?
Why didn't you drown with her?"
00:29:04.120 --> 00:29:08.840
I'm not the type of person...
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:13.960
...who usually blames himself a lot.
00:29:14.840 --> 00:29:19.520
But in this case, it took me a year
of thinking that it was my fault.
00:29:21.280 --> 00:29:24.960
Have you overcome that feeling by now?
- No, I haven't.
00:29:25.080 --> 00:29:27.200
But I don't think...
00:29:28.280 --> 00:29:33.360
...that Maysoon is upset with me.
00:29:38.560 --> 00:29:42.960
I'm the first one who came here.
00:29:43.080 --> 00:29:46.600
I'm the one who encouraged everyone
to follow me here.
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:52.840
Six years have passed,
and every day I say...
00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:56.320
...I wish I was the one who's gone.
00:29:56.440 --> 00:30:00.920
I wish I was the one who had drowned.
00:30:03.320 --> 00:30:06.680
I wish I was the one who was hurt.
00:30:06.800 --> 00:30:10.160
After all, I was the one who wanted to leave.
00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:15.480
Every day I ask myself
if I'm doing the right thing.
00:30:15.600 --> 00:30:19.400
Every day I feel guiltier
than the day before.
00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:05.160
You've stopped for a long time.
- Yes, about five months.
00:31:06.080 --> 00:31:09.520
What are you waiting for?
You need to go on.
00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:15.760
As long as there is new information
in Tunisia, you should go on.
00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:20.800
You start something, you need to continue it.
At least for our mother.
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:25.400
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tunisia.
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.280
We are landing at Djerba-Zarzis airport.
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.560
It's now 5 p.m.
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:46.880
Ben Gardane is a border area
between Tunisia and Libya.
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:51.240
Most people there work
in trading and smuggling.
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:55.440
It has sea and desert.
00:31:56.280 --> 00:31:59.480
It has desert and sand piles.
00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:03.720
In the southwest, there are mountains.
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:11.400
There are thousands of Syrian,
Libyan and African migrants here.
00:32:12.800 --> 00:32:14.560
Thousands of them.
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:28.280
According to your information,
how many bodies turned up here?
00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.520
There are 54 bodies here.
00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:34.320
The north of Tunisia is closer to Italy
than the south.
00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:40.160
True, but most Syrians travelled from Libya.
That is why the bodies turned up here...
00:32:40.280 --> 00:32:45.000
...as Ben Gardane is closer to Libya
than the north of Tunisia.
00:32:46.760 --> 00:32:49.920
Migrants don't travel from ports.
00:32:50.040 --> 00:32:54.760
Do you know how illegal migration works?
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:58.880
Slim, I also travelled to Europe
by boat across the sea.
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:00.920
Okay.
00:33:01.040 --> 00:33:03.080
By boat?
- Yes.
00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:05.200
Ah, so you have experience.
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:22.200
Hello.
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:27.560
There were nine women.
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.080
Nine women, four children
and the rest were men.
00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:37.360
It was August 31, 2014.
00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:40.920
We started burying them
on the first of September.
00:33:41.040 --> 00:33:45.520
What made the process easier...
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:49.160
...was that some of the bodies had belts...
00:33:49.280 --> 00:33:54.360
...that contained documents.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:58.680
Then we realized
that these bodies were Syrians.
00:33:58.800 --> 00:34:04.400
Someone like me, who lost her sister,
how can I know if she was in this port...
00:34:04.520 --> 00:34:08.120
...if you only listed a few documents?
You didn't take DNA samples?
00:34:08.240 --> 00:34:10.760
Yes, no...
00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:12.960
Yes or no?
00:34:13.080 --> 00:34:17.040
Here, no, we didn't take samples.
00:34:17.160 --> 00:34:24.360
I suppose that Human Rights Watch...
00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:27.880
...should do more to identify bodies...
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:34.400
...than just relying on passports.
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:42.600
They told me it was a mass burial.
00:34:42.720 --> 00:34:47.520
No individual burials,
which is what happens now.
00:34:47.640 --> 00:34:52.360
And no DNA samples were taken,
unfortunately...
00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:57.880
...we are sorry to say.
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:02.400
Then the Red Cross intervened.
00:35:02.520 --> 00:35:08.680
They were interested in the matter
and wanted to identify the bodies.
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:14.440
So they brought in a forensic expert...
00:35:14.560 --> 00:35:18.880
...who said it would be extremely expensive...
00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:23.000
...to identify the bodies.
00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:28.040
It would cost 1.5 million dollars.
00:35:28.160 --> 00:35:31.080
It was too expensive,
so they stopped working.
00:35:53.680 --> 00:35:57.040
Do you remember what she was wearing?
00:35:57.160 --> 00:36:03.960
I remember her shoes.
She was wearing blue Converse sneakers.
00:36:04.080 --> 00:36:09.840
She was wearing this top
and over it a long black abaya.
00:36:10.200 --> 00:36:14.880
There was nobody wearing an abaya
with a life vest over it.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.080
Supposing we could see
the abaya and the life vest.
00:36:19.200 --> 00:36:21.400
I don't remember seeing anyone
in an abaya.
00:36:22.200 --> 00:36:25.840
Do you have photos of all 54 bodies?
00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:32.520
Not all of them, but most of them.
- Can you show me them one by one?
00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:39.400
This is a woman.
- A girl.
00:36:39.520 --> 00:36:42.120
Can you pause it?
00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:49.280
I think the hair is red.
- This is a girl.
00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:53.160
Okay.
- This is another girl.
00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:58.160
I think she is young.
00:36:58.280 --> 00:36:59.920
She's bloated.
00:37:09.040 --> 00:37:11.520
Is this a man or a girl?
00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:51.640
I volunteered to bury bodies
that washed up on Zarzis beach.
00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.760
How did you bury them?
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.920
Each one by itself.
- Each one by itself?
00:37:58.040 --> 00:38:03.760
Yes, each one by itself,
then they put sand over all of them.
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:09.840
Okay, but each body was in its own grave?
- Yes, it was.
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:12.960
Is there a barrier between them?
- Yes.
00:38:13.080 --> 00:38:17.400
There was a stone between them.
00:38:18.680 --> 00:38:22.960
Have you seen a young woman
who looks like this?
00:38:24.640 --> 00:38:27.000
This is my sister Maysoon.
00:38:27.120 --> 00:38:31.040
Can she have been one of the nine women?
- I don't think so.
00:38:33.080 --> 00:38:39.480
These nine women
were all wearing dark clothes.
00:38:41.240 --> 00:38:45.240
The clothes were dark grey,
to be specific.
00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:48.360
And all of them were wearing a hijab.
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:51.560
All of them wore a hijab?
- Yes.
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:01.960
You're shooting the film now.
00:39:02.080 --> 00:39:06.400
If the film succeeds but you didn't find
Maysoon, will you feel guilty?
00:39:06.520 --> 00:39:12.400
Yes, because I'm shooting the film...
00:39:12.520 --> 00:39:17.960
...to find Maysoon,
but also to let people hear her story.
00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:22.480
I don't want to stop...
00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:30.680
...until I find an answer or until I can say
that I tried everything and couldn't find her.
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:33.240
You said you're not able to do both...
00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:36.440
...so will you continue making the film
or searching for Maysoon?
00:39:36.560 --> 00:39:38.800
I will finish the film...
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:44.760
...and also continue searching for Maysoon...
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:48.240
...and the other missing people.
00:40:21.120 --> 00:40:27.440
I'm calling the man in charge here,
so he can show us the exact location.
00:40:43.640 --> 00:40:44.880
Hello?
00:40:46.160 --> 00:40:49.040
I'm fine. How are you?
00:40:50.160 --> 00:40:55.160
We've just entered the location
of the cemetery, but where is it exactly?
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:59.560
We're in the rubble,
just in front of the tower.
00:41:02.080 --> 00:41:03.800
Where is it exactly?
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:12.120
We communicate with everyone,
we have permission to be here.
00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:17.520
No, I'm a long way from the tower.
I'm outside.
00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:27.200
I understand.
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:32.360
Bastards!
00:41:37.960 --> 00:41:42.200
They're sending someone
from National Security to guide us.
00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:50.600
Stop filming.
Who's responsible here?
00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:53.520
I am. I have a permit to film.
00:41:53.640 --> 00:41:57.480
You can't film here. This is a military area.
Tell him to stop filming.
00:41:57.600 --> 00:41:59.600
Hans, set down the camera, please.
00:41:59.720 --> 00:42:02.840
You need to come with me
and we will keep all equipment.
00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:05.360
Why? We have permission to film.
00:42:24.080 --> 00:42:30.080
I'm not sure if you can help me,
I want to ask about the bodies...
00:42:30.200 --> 00:42:35.760
...that washed up in Libya in 2014.
00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:39.680
I can't discuss this subject with you.
00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:45.280
I'm a member of the Red Crescent,
but you need to contact other people.
00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:56.600
I understand, but I would like...
00:42:56.720 --> 00:43:02.240
I might give you information
that causes problems between countries.
00:43:02.360 --> 00:43:06.640
Honestly, every time I talk to anyone there...
00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:13.280
...they give me different information.
So whenever I talk with an extra person...
00:43:13.400 --> 00:43:17.360
...he gives me a little bit more information.
So I'm trying to call everyone...
00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:20.040
...to put pieces together.
00:43:38.520 --> 00:43:41.920
There were people
that washed up in Tunisia.
00:43:42.040 --> 00:43:45.160
Bodies from the same accident.
00:43:46.080 --> 00:43:48.560
Some of them have names...
00:43:50.240 --> 00:43:57.240
...because they had passports
or other IDs.
00:43:58.520 --> 00:44:02.040
There were 54 of them.
- Bodies?
00:44:03.560 --> 00:44:06.280
Yes. One of them was Sudanese.
00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:09.640
The other 53 were Syrians.
00:44:11.440 --> 00:44:14.200
They buried them...
00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:19.400
...in an area
near where they found them...
00:44:19.520 --> 00:44:22.880
...called El-Ketef Port.
00:44:23.840 --> 00:44:25.800
I went there.
00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:29.400
It's a military area.
00:44:29.520 --> 00:44:32.880
As soon as we entered, they arrested us.
00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:38.360
They held us for about seven hours,
without our phones.
00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:44.200
If it was like that in Tunisia,
what will happen in Libya?
00:44:44.320 --> 00:44:47.280
I showed them Maysoon's photo,
they said they hadn't seen her.
00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:51.480
Did they remember?
- That's the problem, Mum.
00:44:52.240 --> 00:44:56.200
We're talking about their memories,
which aren't reliable.
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:01.040
I remember when we arrived in Italy.
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:07.000
They said they had 25 bodies.
00:45:08.080 --> 00:45:11.200
One of them was a woman.
00:45:12.040 --> 00:45:14.520
If you see the photo...
00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:23.800
...she was bloated, and the fish
had eaten parts of her, you see.
00:45:24.600 --> 00:45:27.920
You don't expect to be able to identify her.
00:45:28.040 --> 00:45:33.800
Only if you are her sister or her father,
you might recognize her.
00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:38.880
What I'm trying to say is that, even if they
told you they do or don't remember...
00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:45.720
...the photo you're showing them
is different from the bodies they found.
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:48.640
Do you see what I mean?
- Yes, I do.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:56.360
Even if the body washed up there,
they wouldn't recognize it.
00:46:23.600 --> 00:46:26.680
In the end, I need to speak up.
00:46:46.640 --> 00:46:48.400
Maysoon's things?
- Yes.
00:46:49.640 --> 00:46:51.920
Karam gave them to me.
00:46:52.880 --> 00:46:56.720
I'm not sure if I should give them...
00:46:58.080 --> 00:47:00.360
...to Mum.
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:05.640
I haven't opened this...
00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:08.640
...in eight years.
00:47:09.680 --> 00:47:11.800
What's in it?
00:47:12.520 --> 00:47:14.520
Her sunglasses.
00:47:15.720 --> 00:47:20.200
I still remember these things,
we shared them.
00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:22.360
I remember this.
00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:32.080
It won't open.
- Because of the salt.
00:47:36.400 --> 00:47:38.640
Should I give them to Mum?
00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:41.120
No.
00:47:42.120 --> 00:47:46.800
It would hurt her, especially now.
00:47:52.200 --> 00:47:57.080
Difficult. It was a decision.
I don't know what to say.
00:48:01.480 --> 00:48:03.680
Was it the wrong decision?
00:48:03.800 --> 00:48:05.720
Yes, it was.
00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:10.200
It was the wrong journey.
00:48:12.520 --> 00:48:15.280
When you come here, you realize...
00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:19.840
...that we are oppressed people.
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:24.200
We're barred from everything,
even from recognizing the value of our lives...
00:48:24.320 --> 00:48:26.240
...and ourselves.
00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:30.640
They take everything from us.
00:48:30.760 --> 00:48:33.040
Even your feeling as a human being...
00:48:33.160 --> 00:48:36.920
...so you forget how to value yourself
as a human being.
00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:46.520
A human being who values himself
would never undertake such a journey.
00:48:46.640 --> 00:48:50.200
But they make you hate yourself.
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:52.080
They push you to leave.
00:48:52.200 --> 00:48:56.080
They are responsible
for everyone who died out there.
00:48:57.120 --> 00:49:00.160
Even if it's not on their land,
they are guilty.
00:49:06.080 --> 00:49:10.680
Next week is August 24th.
00:49:11.560 --> 00:49:12.880
A Wednesday.
00:49:14.120 --> 00:49:18.360
Every year we do nothing,
and that annoys Mum.
00:49:19.560 --> 00:49:24.040
So I thought I'd call you
and ask you what you think.
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:28.240
Batoul, I'm not in favour of filming.
00:49:28.360 --> 00:49:29.600
Okay.
00:49:29.720 --> 00:49:32.920
I suggest we go there and tell her...
00:49:33.040 --> 00:49:37.240
...we're coming to talk about Maysoon.
00:49:39.040 --> 00:49:43.240
It will hurt your mum...
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:45.920
...if we act as if Maysoon is gone.
00:49:46.040 --> 00:49:47.200
Alright.
00:49:49.680 --> 00:49:54.880
Because this is the first time
we're getting together...
00:49:56.040 --> 00:49:59.960
...the filming might make it easier.
00:50:01.200 --> 00:50:03.560
Alright.
00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:08.360
Right, so we agree.
00:50:09.240 --> 00:50:11.680
Who will tell her?
- I will.
00:50:11.800 --> 00:50:14.360
Batoul, as she's the one filming.
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:30.360
The problem is that no organization
takes the initiative or the responsibility...
00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:33.920
...to gather the necessary information...
00:50:34.040 --> 00:50:38.920
...such as who is missing and who survived.
00:50:39.040 --> 00:50:41.640
When the Italian ships came...
00:50:41.760 --> 00:50:47.160
...and before they started rescuing people,
they stayed for more than two hours...
00:50:47.280 --> 00:50:51.960
...just filming.
00:50:52.080 --> 00:50:56.600
Instead of immediately rescuing people,
they were just filming.
00:51:00.040 --> 00:51:06.120
When we arrived in Italy, they kept
filming us for three hours under the sun.
00:51:08.160 --> 00:51:13.040
But I think we must avoid...
00:51:13.160 --> 00:51:17.520
...mentioning Maysoon only
in the context of the accident.
00:51:20.160 --> 00:51:27.160
I used to come out of my room at midnight
to tell her to stop laughing.
00:51:28.720 --> 00:51:33.360
She'd be laughing with Batoul,
but Batoul had a softer laugh.
00:51:33.480 --> 00:51:36.360
Yes, she has a loud laugh.
00:51:38.840 --> 00:51:41.400
She used to love watermelon.
00:51:42.480 --> 00:51:45.360
It was her favourite fruit.
00:51:48.200 --> 00:51:51.120
I remember she loved chocolate.
00:51:51.240 --> 00:51:53.440
And instant noodles.
00:52:27.640 --> 00:52:31.800
Do you remember when we helped her
with an architecture project?
00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:38.920
She had a tight deadline,
so Dad and I helped her with a drawing.
00:53:05.480 --> 00:53:07.560
My last journey
was supposed to be to Libya.
00:53:07.680 --> 00:53:10.920
The country that took you away from me.
00:53:11.720 --> 00:53:16.120
I was supposed to go to Libya
and look for you.
00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:21.960
I tried to call a lot of people and
organizations that help refugees...
00:53:22.080 --> 00:53:24.640
...but no one would help me.
00:53:28.880 --> 00:53:32.360
And now I'm pregnant with a little girl.
00:53:34.600 --> 00:53:39.480
All this time, I thought that,
despite everything that happened to us...
00:53:39.600 --> 00:53:43.640
...you shouldn't have taken
this dangerous route.
00:53:43.760 --> 00:53:51.000
And now I feel I'd be putting my little girl
in the same danger if I travel there.
00:53:54.440 --> 00:53:57.440
When I've given birth
and my little girl is safe...
00:53:57.560 --> 00:54:00.280
...I will travel to Libya and continue.
00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:05.760
Because finding you was and still is
the most important goal in my life.
00:54:06.720 --> 00:54:08.480
I will go back soon.
00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:11.640
I love you so much.