The Unreturned is a 2010 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 by Nathan Fisher. The film tells the story of five middle-class Iraqi refugees

Refugees of Iraq

Throughout the past 100 years, there have been a growing number of refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq War. Most of Iraqi Jews, some 120,000, fled the country in mass exodus of 1950-1952. Tens of thousands of Kurds turned displaced and fled...

 caught in an absurdist purgatory of endless bureaucracy, dwindling life savings, and forced idleness. The Unreturned was shot in verité style in Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, with unscripted narration by the refugees in the film. These Iraqis come from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

The film's world premiere was April 25, 2010 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival

The Minneapolis–St. Paul International Film Festival is a springtime film festival in the U.S. state of Minnesota that has been held since the early 1980s. Known as the largest film event in the Upper Midwest, the festival invites numerous films from all corners of the globe, and attracts a large...

, where it was awarded "Best of Festival" honors. The film is also an official selection at the 2010 Marfa Film Festival

Marfa Film Festival

The Marfa Film Fesival was a Film festival held in Marfa, Texas, celebrating contemporary and classic film, as well as hosting musical events, tours of the area, and various other art related activities. The first annual was held May 1–5. The second annual was held April 29 - May 3, 2009...

 and the 2010 Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

International Film Festival in New York.