Synopsis of Films

1. WAR CHILD
Production: 2008, USA
Synopsis: Before becoming a successful rapper, Sudanese born hip hop artist, Emmanuel Jal, served for nearly 5 years as a child soldier in the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. With the help of an aid worker, he escaped the army. Ever since, Jal has dedicated himself to peace in Sudan and a better future for Africa. The film won awards in Tribeca International Film Festival (2008), Crystal Heart Truly Moving Pictures Film Festival (2008), Bologna International Film Festival (2008), Maui International Film Festival (2008) and Norway Bergen International Film Festival (2008).
Director: Christian Karim Chrobog
Duration: 94 minutes
Genre: Documentary

2. CAMBODIA DREAMS
Production: 2008, New Zealand
Synopsis: The film chronicles the parallel lives of a family divided by the Thai-Cambodian border after the Khmer Rouge regime. The hopes and the dreams finally come true as the family reunites in their Cambodian village after 12 years in the refugee camp.
Director: Stanley Harper
Duration: 65 minutes
Genre: Documentary

3. DAS FRAULEIN
Production: 2006, Switzerland
Synopsis: The film gazes intimately into the lives of 3 women from former Yugoslavia who now live in Switzerland. It is an exploration of physical and emotional displacement, as more and more people move between cultures and countries, in the increasingly borderless world.
The film won awards as best film and best actress at Sarajevo Film Festival (2006) and the Swiss Film Prize for best script (2007) and the FIPRESCI Award at the International Film Festival in Spain.
Director: Andrea Staka
Duration: 81 minutes
Genre: Fiction

4. EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN
Production: 2008, Canada
Synopsis: Both Sallieu and Joyce seem like ordinary teenagers living in Toronto. Having revealed their tragic background, the camera features strong and courageous refugees making new lives for themselves in a city away from home.
Director: Monika Delmos
Duration: 52 minutes
Genre: Documentary

5. RAIN IN A DRY LAND
Production: 2007, USA
Synopsis: In 2004, more than 13,000 Somali Bantus moved (legally) to the United States where they started new lives. Despite the struggle against racism and discrimination, the two families portrayed in the movie maintain a high degree of optimism, attempt to see their lives from an optimistic angle, and try to make the best out of their new lives.
Director: Ann Makepeace
Duration: 83 minutes
Genre: Documentary

6. IN SEARCH OF MY HOME

Production: 2010, India
Synopsis: Sheltering one of the largest refugee populations in the world, India still lacks a comprehensive domestic refugee law that could guarantee them their basic human needs. In Search of My Home is a journey with a Burmese and an Afghan family, as it explores the complexities in their everyday battle for survival.
Director: Sushmit Ghosh & Rintu Thomas
Duration: 30 minutes
Genre: Documentary

7. EAST TO WEST
Production: 2005, Switzerland
Synopsis: In 2004, a wall is being built and the family of Enas must leave their home and move so they do not find themselves on the wrong side. It is the father’s second experience. He was born in a house in Jaffa but, in 1948, he had to leave. Between Jerusalem and Jaffa – to each generation its own move.
Director: Enas I. Al-Muthaffar
Duration: 16 minutes
Genre: Documentary

8. LAST DAYS OF TANF
Production: 2010, Syria
Synopsis: In May 2006, hundreds of Palestinians fleeing persecution in Iraq tried to cross into Syrian territory. For almost four years, they remained stranded in the no man’s land along the Syrian-Iraqi border where they endured the misery of an isolated desert refugee camp. As the camp approaches closure in early 2010, its inhabitants are offered a chance at a new life. UNHCR documents the last days of life in al-Tanf.
Director: Edith Champagne
Duration: 30 minutes
Genre: Documentary

9. REFUGEES FROM RUSSIA
Production: 2009, Russia
Synopsis: The film tells the story of a Russian family, the Frenkels, who had to move from one country to another for more than 100 years. In 1905, they had to leave their native town in Russia to avoid pogroms. Palestine, Egypt, and France were the destinations they were forced to reach. In 2005, Didier Frenkel (grandson) came back to the Frenkels’ native town 100 years after the escape of the family in 1905.
Director: Vladimir Bokun
Duration: 26 minutes
Genre: Documentary

10. DREAMING OF TIBET
Production: 2003, USA
Synopsis: This film looks at the lives of three extraordinary Tibetans who have survived in exile and are deeply involved in working for the survival of their culture. It captures the difficult challenges they each face and conveys the sense of hope they bring to their day-to-day lives in spite of great hardship and loss.
The film won the Audience Award at Amnesty International Film Festival and Honorable Mention at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.
Director: Will Parrinello
Duration: 58 minutes
Genre: Documentary

11. THE FACES OF HOPE
Production: 2008, Burundi
Synopsis: In the film, young Burundian refugees talk about the challenges they face. They express their hopes and dreams for the future, with certain optimism that they will not remain refugees forever despite the fact that majority of them have been in refugee camps for over 10 years.
Director: Nezia Munezero
Duration: 35 minutes
Genre: Documentary