Flana

Incoming Editorial·Reviewed May 6, 2026

Zahraa returns to her childhood home in Baghdad, haunted by the disappearance of her friend Noor twenty years ago. During her search, she meets Laila (22) at the same shelter where Noor was last seen. Zahraa discovers that many girls are abandoned by their mothers due to gender-based violence. She realizes how the war on Iraq reinforced patriarchal systems, compelling mothers to leave their baby daughters behind in a society that rejects them.