FilmmakerJacqueline Baylonresolved to address that in her Oscar-shortlisted documentaryUntil Hes Back.
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‘Until He’s Back’POV/Scripps News Longform
Some of his friends left.
They told him he could make more money in Spain.
His surviving friends called.
Director Jacqueline BaylonCourtesy of Carmen Molina
They told us Yahya and those with him had died.
Baylon filmedUntil Hes Backin Morocco, in Spain, and on the Mediterranean separating the countries.
Its about my cousin, who came from Oran [Algeria] to Spain, says one caller.
Another caller tells her, I have a question for you about a missing brother.
We are looking for it, she tells them.
To Baylon she adds, Normally, that means tragedy.
In December 2022, a body washed ashore on the Spanish coast.
Indications pointed to an identity Yahya, Ahmeds son.
Then began the forensic process of determining that with certainty.
Thats how I met Ahmed, the director explains.
We immediately went to go see Ahmed and give him our condolences…
I think what he wants is for people to care when a body is lost.
Baylon approached the documentary project with intimate knowledge of the migrant experience.
My moms decision changed my life forever.
She knew that if we made it, wed have a shot at the American dream.
She grew up in El Paso, Texas and now makes her home in Spain.
Other men in the village arent so fortunate.
They hold up photos of their missing boys or missing brothers.
One man tells Faisal, the CIPIMD volunteer, To find our kids, well do whatever it takes!
We just want to know, are our kids alive?
Until Hes Backpremiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Montana, where it won Best Short Documentary.
It aired as part of the PBS seriesPOVand can be streamed now on the PBS app.
The filmmaker adds, People are leaving, searching for opportunities because theres no opportunities where they are.
People are being persecuted, so theyre leaving because of that.
And theres also climate change.
