The children of Camp Ashraf
Parwin and Amir grew up in a military camp. As toddlers they were sent away by their parents who wanted to focus on fighting the Mulla-regime of Iran. Thirty years later they are still hoping and trying to reunite with their mothers. Will they ever succeed?
A film about an untold scandal involving around a thousand children all over the globe, addressing the most urgent issues of our time: exile, identity, radicalization and our inability to see the needs of vulnerable children.
“My mother loves the Mujaheddin and its leaders. But she loves me too. I wonder - who does she love the most ... ”. Amir Vafa’s mother joined the People's Mujahedin as a young and enthusiastic teenager. At the time, the People's Mujahedin, with its strange mix of Marxism and Islamism, was one of the larger organizations fighting the Shah's regime in Iran. When the Shah was overthrown in 1979, the People's Mujahedin continued the struggle against the Khomeini clerics from their new base, Camp Ashraf in neighboring Iraq. A country that Iran was in a prolonged military conflict with at the time.
When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, the children, growing up at the military base, were sent to supporters around the world. About a hundred of these unaccompanied minors ended up in Sweden. Amir, Parwin, Atefeh and Hanif were placed with their new foster families who raised them to become martyrs in the struggle against theocratic Iran. In "The Children of Camp Ashraf” children from this political cult speak on camera for the first time.
How could beloved parents choose combat before their own children?
Press:
“Bitvis är det spännande som en thriller, bitvis lodar ”Barnen från Camp Ashraf” existentiella djup om föräldraskap och sektliv på ett både intelligent och gripande sätt.”
« J’avais 14 ans quand j’ai appris à tirer à la Kalachnikov, à conduire un char, à manœuvrer dans un champ de mines et à me battre. »
