Last year, a haunting image was etched into our collective memory—a picture divided into two frames.
On the left stood the child abusers, whose unspeakable cruelty was only partially exposed through the Epstein Files scandal. On the right stood our beloved Spreme Leader, surrounded by little angels who had just whispered their very first prayers.
Not long after that image was completed, the darkness from the left frame broke into the right. Hundreds of innocent girls and boys were taken from this world, along with our Supreme Leader. Dreams were silenced, futures were stolen, and countless families were left carrying a grief beyond words.
This year, inspired by Minab, we turn our attention to those families. We sit beside fathers and mothers whose children have fallen victim to the Epsteins of the world—parents who wake each morning and shoulder the quiet, crushing weight of loss before stepping back into a world that has moved on without them.
Perhaps they never imagine their voices could travel beyond the walls of their homes. Perhaps, like the mothers and fathers of Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Bosnia, and so many other places, time has passed, but grief remains—written not in words, but in the lines etched across their faces.
The International Section of the 15th 100-Second Festival seeks to become a platform for these unheard voices. Today, our arms are open to the stories of parents whose sorrow has too often remained unseen. We want their memories, their love, and their resilience to be heard across borders and generations.
Wherever they are in the world, their children mattered. Their grief matters. And their stories deserve to be told.