A new documentary by Khadija Amin, an exiled Afghan journalist based in Spain, premiered Wednesday at the European Film Festival in Seville, offering a deeply personal and harrowing account of the struggles faced by Afghan women in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power.
The film, titled Where Are My Children?, tells the story of an Afghan mother who fled to Spain after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. Upon arrival, she learns that she has been officially declared dead in government records — a bureaucratic error that has turned into a human rights nightmare.
The woman, a mother of three, has no legal documents proving she is the children’s biological or legal guardian. Her husband, now residing in Afghanistan, has barred her from contacting the children for nearly a year. The film chronicles her painful legal battle and emotional struggle to reunite with her children and reclaim her identity.
“This is one of the most heartbreaking human stories to emerge after the collapse of Afghanistan,” Amin said in a statement released ahead of the screening. She described the film as the result of more than three years of field research and production.
Amin, who serves on the board of Reporters Without Borders Spain and is president of the NGO Hope for Freedom, is also a contributing journalist at 20 Minutos, a Spanish daily, and an editorial assistant at the media company Telefónica. In the documentary, she takes on multiple roles — as director, narrator, and central subject.
Where Are My Children? explores the legal void faced by displaced women navigating asylum systems, custody battles, and transnational family separation.
The film portrays “a raw and human depiction of grief, resilience, and a mother’s determination to reclaim her family and identity,” according to the official festival synopsis.
Since the Taliban’s return, hundreds of Afghan journalists — particularly women — have fled the country due to threats, censorship, or outright bans on their work. Many, like Ms. Amin, continue to report from exile, documenting the experiences of those who remain behind and those forced to flee.
In her statement, Amin called the film “a tribute to the many women whose voices have been silenced, and whose families were torn apart by borders and political violence.”
