Mariam, a rebellious 27-year-old woman, gets deported from Spain after living there for 10 years and is forced to return home to Western Sahara – a country that has been occupied by Morocco since the 1970s, and where there is little economic opportunity, particularly for women.

Mariam crosses the border into her homeland carrying the guilt of failing the European dream and convinced that she must return to Spain no matter the cost. Caught in an emotional chasm between the world she wants and the world she finds herself in, the film follows Mariam’s whirlwind struggle as she tries to steer her own destiny in a place that feels both familiar and alienating upon her return.

“Nomad Shadow” emerged from a question too rarely explored in the cinematic narratives surrounding migration: what happens after deportation? While many powerful films have illuminated the perilous journeys of migrants heading north, – by sea, by truck, on foot – few have turned their gaze to those forcibly sent back. What becomes of the men and women who once risked everything in search of a future, only to return to the very places they tried to flee?

“Nomad Shadow” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Centrepiece section.