Film Screening of Life in a Refugee Camp
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:44:00 GMT
On Tuesday 28th February the School of Education and Professional Development and Sanctuary Kirklees co-sponsored a film screening of ‘722 TMX Engineer Battalion’, a short documentary film on life in a refugee camp in Alexandria, Greece. The event, introduced by Senior Lecturer Martin Purcell, aimed to provide Youth and Community Work students and practitioners with an insight into a key contemporary issue, from a different perspective to mainstream British media.
In 2016 several European governments closed their borders, leaving 60,000 refugees ‘stranded’ in Greece. Faced with hosting the refugees, the Greek Government reopened a number of closed-down army camps as temporary residences and called upon the army to set up and manage the camps. The film explored the daily lives of the refugees, the role of the army and NGOs in organising the camp, and the evolving relationships between the Greek locals and their new neighbours. Interviews from various people on site (including the volunteers, the army, medical staff, cleaning staff and the refugees themselves) gave an insightful view on how they all work together as a community. The film reflected the refugees’ plans for the future and their goals of moving to other European countries, and the warm welcome they have received from the townspeople of Alexandria. The film presented a more positive view on the presence of refugees within the town, and demonstrated that once personal attachments and mutual understandings form, barriers disappear.
The UK Producer Tim Kelly, lecturer at the University of Coventry and an award-winning writer and director, introduced the film and conducted a Q&A session after the screening. The audience – many of whom work with refugees and asylum seekers – welcomed the positive representation of the refugee’s plight and the way in which the military and local people responded to their presence.
Encouraged by the positive response to the screening, Martin Purcell promised more similar events in the future:
“We’re trying to strengthen our relationship with local organisations delivering youth and community work in Kirklees. Film screenings give people the chance to come together around issues of common interest, and to enter into dialogue about our response to current social challenges. Watch out for more in the coming months!”
