Tuesday evening, May 30, was a very beautiful, special, and emotional evening at Plan Einstein Pahud. Together with other Utrechters and while enjoying delicious snacks, the residents of the asylum seekers center watched the documentary My Father, Nour and Me. Afterward, there was an after talk and space to talk about the story and life of Wiam Al-Zabari. Words like “I have just experienced my most beautiful evening in the Netherlands” and “Thank you for seeing and understanding us” touched us deeply.

Twenty years ago, the filmmaker fled Baghdad as a teenager with his family in the middle of the night to the Netherlands, where his father was waiting for them. In the meantime, Wiam himself has become the father of his son Nour. With that, the never-answered questions about his childhood in Iraq and their flight intrude very much. He does not want to pass on the unprocessed traumas to his own children. In “My Father, Nour and I,” he breaks the silence on these sensitive topics and enters into a conversation with his father and mother, brother and sister. What was their life like in Iraq? Why did they need to leave so badly? What did the flight cost his father? The film shows the liberating power of real, vulnerable conversations.

We would like to thank Wiam Al-Zabari and the producer Een van de jongens as well as all those present very much for their candor, their opinions, and shared emotions.