LEBANON: A Lebanese production house in partnership with UNHCR and the European Union launches an online film telling the stories of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, through videos and photo essays

Record ID: 274465

  • Title: LEBANON: A Lebanese production house in partnership with UNHCR and the European Union launches an online film telling the stories of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, through videos and photo essays
  • Date: 11th December 2013
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (DECEMBER 6, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF SCREEN SHOWING 'DAYS AWAY FROM HOME' WEB-DOCUMENTARY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF 'DAYS AWAY FROM HOME' WEB-DOCUMENTARY, KATIA SALEH, SAYING: "The project is called 'Days Away From Home', and everyday a day is added on the website due to the ongoing events in Syria so for example, 1105 million days, I d
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA63ZH37A9THHF1ID67KBU2SPBD
  • Story Text: Fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad almost dominates the news.
    But stories about ordinary citizens who have fed the civil war in Syria to find sanctuary in neighbouring Lebanon don't always hit the headlines.
    To help tell the stories of different displaced Syrians, a Lebanese production house in partnership with UNHCR and the European Union recently launched "Days Away From Home'', an online documentary which features the personal stories of different Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.
    The film had its cinematic debut at Beirut's Empire Cinema, but it's online where viewers can see the stories unfold.
    The online documentary includes videos and photo essays, and the documentary is an ongoing project.
    Katia Saleh is the producer and director of 'Days Away From Home', she' s also the owner of the Lebanese production house Batoota Films.

    "The project is called 'Days Away From Home', and everyday a day is added on the website due to the ongoing events in Syria so for example, 1105 million days, I don't know how many days will be added, I hope they don't go up anymore. So the idea behind this is that it tells how many days they (Syrian refugees) have been away from their country, hence it is called 'Days Away from Home' in Arabic, and in English it is daysawayfromhome.com. It is a number of videos that follow one family and feature many photo essays which follows many people, it presents a day from their lives," Saleh told Reuters before the screening of the film.
    The United Nations estimates 800,000 refugees have crossed into Lebanon to escape the ongoing conflict in Syria, though the total number is likely to be more than 1 million as many do not register with the U.N. refugee agency.
    Lebanon, the smallest of Syria's neighbours, is giving sanctuary to the largest number of refugees from the civil war across its border and Syrians now number around a quarter of its own population of just over 4 million.
    With a weak government and threadbare national services even before the Syrian crisis erupted two and a half years ago, Lebanon is struggling to support those refugees, scattered in informal camps across the country's most deprived areas.
    Having met with many Syrian refugees who are suffering from these difficult conditions, Saleh said the production of the documentary wasn't an easy task.

    "What bothered us the most while we were working on this project is their situation, it is the situation on the ground and what is happening, and the research, because when you are searching for characters and trying to find the suitable ones, you meet.. what can I tell you? It is hard to describe how we've started and who we've met but we tried as much as we can not to focus on a specific angle, we don't want people to cry or to make them feel sorry for (Syrian refugees), not at all, it is the opposite, we are trying to give them strength and show they how strong they are and how much they are resisting in their lives," added Saleh.
    Speaking about the documentary, UNHCR spokeswoman Dana Suleiman said the film shows a different side to the refugees.

    "When we talk about Syrian refugees, we always imagine camps, bad situation, we hear about their situation while we are away but we don't get the chance to talk with a Syrian refugee, learn about his story and follow it. So this website gives us the chance to follow the story of a Syrian refugee, listen to what he really wants to tell us and how he is adapting to the Lebanese society, progressing and achieving his dreams," Suleiman said.
    After the screening, a question and answer session took place between the makers of the film and the audience.
    Viewers had mixed reactions about the film with some saying it shined a new light on how the refugees are portrayed.

    "It surely presents the suffering of Syrian refugees in a different way, one which is different to the one we see in international and Lebanese media channels. It is a good thing that people get the chance to learn about the personal feelings of those refugees because the suffering in Syria is very big, you can't keep up with it," said Lebanese woman Naja Al-Achkar.

    "All the stories are touching and it is very nice that they are presented in films because people get the chance to see the daily problems of those families, but what made me sad today is the way the family was presented and the weird questions that were asked, I felt that we reached nowhere from this documentary because at the end, the aim is not to make an artistic film but to help the people at the end, and the people are really suffering a lot," said Syrian woman Raghad Mardini.
    According to the United Nations more than two million refugees have now fled the civil war, and the number continues to rise daily.
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