Little Survivors

07.02.2020

ARBIL - With Little Survivors Lotte Knaepen and Lisa Matthys made a report in Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The story is about the Yazidis, a people who were persecuted by ISIS. Many Yazidi children became victims of human trafficking, were separated from their families, used as slaves or trained as child soldiers in Raqqa. In this documentary, the makers follow four little survivors who have suffered trauma in various ways. But the focus is on their resilience, courage and creativity.

In the background, the Belgian architects of "Maggie Program" are building a tent structure of sustainable materials that will serve as a center for trauma therapy. In a landscape that exudes an idyllic innocence, the children talk about their traumatic experience. Lotte and Lisa copied the 'sandplay' method from psycho-dynamic child therapy in order to let the children tell about their experiences in a free and safe way. Now that the war has been over for several years, the war wounds are not healed. How does a child deal with this traumatic experience, how does it affect the subconscious mind and how do we see this reflected in their daily lives?

Supported

€ 6.120 allocated on 06/05/2019.

ID:

FPD/2019/1578