Milo’s disappearance

December 2021. I’m writing the concept for the film’s funding in Zurich when I receive the news that Milo has disappeared without a trace. For two weeks, there’s been no sign of her—neither on social media nor through mutual acquaintances. After two weeks, a friend of Milo’s, who introduced me to her, calls me from Baghdad: “I’m sorry to be the one with the bad news. Milo’s best friend told me she had been having problems with her father before she disappeared. We don’t know whether she is alive or not. I think she was locked up by her father. It has happened before. We can only pray for her.” 

I feel sick with worry. What should I do? I can’t contact the family, I can’t travel to Baghdad and knock on the door. Milo’s father knows nothing about me. That would be too dangerous for me and even more for Milo. My hands are tied. So, I just keep writing as if nothing has happened.

I met Milo in September 2021. From the very beginning, she made it clear that we would have to make the film without her family’s knowledge. “I’m going to leave the country anyway. I want the world to see what is happening in Iraq. I have nothing left to lose,” Milo said. Many of the female activists I met during my research for the film either don’t want to or can’t reveal more than a verbal interview because their families are against it, or they fear being discredited. Milo is ready to show everything. She has her own agenda with the film.

Several days later, I received the following message on my Instagram account: “Hello Maja. I apologize for not being here, but I have a lot of problems because a friend told my father a lie about my work. And even after I found out what happened and that my friend was a liar, and I was right, my father still locked me up at home and took all my devices. I can’t communicate with you or anyone else. Now I’ve opened my account on my brother’s phone, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to talk to you again. I’ve really lost everything this time. I don’t have a phone anymore, and because of that, I’ve lost all my hard work. I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to tell you that I want you to know all this. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. Stay safe.”

Two months later, she survived yet another confrontation with her father, bought a new phone, and started sneaking out of the house again. We received funding for the film and began shooting. But throughout the entire filming process, a sword of Damocles hung over us: when would her father lock up Milo again?