Stichting Vluchteling presents: Lost Land

In collaboration with Stichting Vluchteling (Refugee Foundation), we are screening Lost Land by Akio Fujimoto. A fictional film about two Rohingya children who make the dangerous crossing to Malaysia from a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Lost Land

Somira and her brother Shafi always seem to find time to play games, even when fleeing by boat from Bangladesh. The sudden arrival of coastguards scatters the Rohingya refugees, stranding them in southern Thailand. The children are soon plunged into a real-life hide-and-seek game as they hunt for food, shelter, and safety. When other refugees take them in, their way to Malaysia seems assured, only for the odds to turn against them.

Starring over two hundred Rohingya people, Lost Land (Harà Watan) by Japanese director Akio Fujimoto is a visceral depiction of their collective experience. Their path is filled with obstacles: the forces of nature, exploitation in cross-border trafficking, and constant challenges that test their strength and resilience. The first feature made entirely in the Rohingya language is shot at the eye-level of its young actors, capturing the trauma of displacement and the silence that allows its perpetuation.

Talk

After the film, we speak with, among others, Dorien Boxhoorn. She has worked at Stichting Vluchteling since 2020 and is a regional program officer for Asia. In this role, she supports aid programs in the region and works closely with local partners to provide emergency aid to people fleeing their homes. Following the large-scale flight of Rohingya to Bangladesh, Dorien worked for a year in Cox’s Bazar, where she was directly involved in relief efforts. Before that, she worked in Africa and the Middle East, including South Sudan, Nigeria, Iraq, and Palestine.