Alba Sotorra Clua has worked in Syria, Afghanistan, Korea, Bosnia, Cuba, the US, Guatemala, England, Iran, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and Qatar, and has lived long periods in the Middle East. Her films have premiered at HotDocs, Shanghai International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary, and Seminci. Clua’s documentary feature film “Game Over” received the VIII Gaudí Award from the Catalan Film Academy, and “Comandante Arian” was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2019 Gaudí Awards.
“The Return: Life after ISIS” is screening at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, which is taking place online March 16-20.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
ASC: “The Return: Life After ISIS” is a feature documentary that gives a different perspective on the current debate on whether we should repatriate ISIS brides or not. The film is an intimate, yet unique insight into the stories of the Western women who devoted their young lives to ISIS, but who now want the chance to start over back home in the West.
Among them, probably the most famous British recruit, Shamima Begum, who fled the country when she was 15, and Hoda Muthana from Alabama, USA, who incited her followers on Twitter to go on drive-bys and kill Americans. Universally reviled by the media, these women now tell their stories for the very first time.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
ASC: On October 2017, I was at the frontlines of the war against ISIS in Raqqa, at that time the capital of the Islamic State. The city was besieged by the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces. The sound of the bombs was hair-raising, and I could feel them in my chest. A group of civilians fleeing the air-shelling arrived at our position. Among them there was a young mother holding her child, both covered in dust. When I got closer, I realized that her son was dead. That was the first day I cried for our enemies.
I had been following the war against ISIS from the Kurdish front since 2015 for my last film, “Commander Arian,” which followed the story of a women’s commando that fought to drive ISIS from their territory. I saw only a small part of the horrors and crimes that ISIS committed, and I will never be able to erase them from my mind: dozens of bodies piled up in schools, hundreds of families screaming in pain, thousands of graves of young female and male Kurdish fighters in brand new graveyards.
For me, ISIS was the personification of evil, something to hate and destroy. But that day in Raqqa I saw the human face of ISIS for the first time. Then I felt the need to make this movie.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
ASC: This is a film about dialogue, understanding, and forgiveness as a way for peace that challenges the viewer to listen without judging.
I hope the audience, after watching this film, will change their perspective on what is the responsibility of our governments regarding thousands of women and children in detention camps in Northeastern Syria for more than two years.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
ASC: The filming process was emotionally challenging: we were an all-female crew and half of us were young Kurdish women who had lost family and friends in the fight against ISIS. I myself have lost friends in the war.
The first days were tense. Some women in our crew didn’t want to sit and share food or tea with the ISIS women we were filming. Some even feared that the food could be poisoned. The first weeks we had internal conflicts among the crew on whether it was right to be at the camp and to give them the chance to speak. Some of our crew were very incredulous with everything our protagonists were telling us, and they believed everything was a lie. On the other hand, ISIS women also were not very comfortable with us at the beginning. They didn’t trust us and were reluctant to speak openly.
But as time passed, and we began to feel each other, the walls of fear and pain fell to make room for an honest dialogue that created a special bond between the film crew and our protagonists. It was a cathartic process for all of us that challenged the views and preconceptions we had of each other.
We were all women who shared grief, and we realized that blaming each other was foolish and would only lead to more pain. The only way out was to try to leave the hatred behind and start over — with compassion, forgiveness, and understanding.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
ASC: Half of the budget comes from ICEC (The Catalan Institute for the Cultural Companies), the Catalan Film Institute. They gave us development funds and production funds. We also received support from the MEDIA sub-program of Creative Europe. In Syria, we got a lot of in-kind support from the Komina Film Rojava, the local institution for cinema.
Later on, Sky TV got on board thanks to our sales agent Vesna Cudic. The Catalan TV also got on board. Finally, we received an economic award by Laya Awards, given by the office of civil rights of the Government of Catalonia.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
ASC: I’m very curious about all that surrounds me. I need to live things to understand them. I love people.
Right after I graduated from college, I took a camera and hitchhiked from Barcelona to Pakistan to make my first film. That trip had a very deep influence on my life and the way I understand cinema as a tool to learn, to communicate with people, and to share my vision of the world.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
ASC: The best, from my mom: If you doubt, do it! Because you are much more likely to regret what you have not done that what you have done.
Another good one, from my dad: If you have money, buy your time! It is your most valuable asset.
I forget the worst advice.
W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?
ASC: Do not put any limit upon yourself. Think big, dream big and do big.
Make films. Just make them. Do not be afraid to fail or to make a bad film – filmmaking is a learning process, and the more you do, the better it will be. Finishing a film requires a lot of courage! Never ever think you do not have the talent. To finish a film, your stubbornness and obstinance will help you more than your talent!
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
ASC: I have many favorite directors! I like Andrea Arnold for being able to be political in both form and content. I love the topics of her films and I admire how she makes them.
I love the way Carla Subirana, Neus Ballús, and Carla Simón hybridize documentary storytelling with fictional storytelling.
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?
ASC: From the institutions and funding bodies: quotas. For example, there could be quotas of publicly funded film budgets for creators of color and for films casting people of color.
From professionals of the cinema industry with the power to make decisions: consciousness, inclusiveness, diversity!
