Documenting the displaced: ‘After Spring’, ‘Born in Syria’ and ‘Warehoused’

Description

Returning to Hong Kong for its 11th edition, the Refugee Film Festival (RFF) sheds light on the moving stories of displaced people around the world.

The festival opens with After Spring (2016), co-directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Steph Ching, which follows the lives of two refugee families in Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian, as well as aid workers fighting to keep the camp running.

Born in Syria (2016), a documentary directed by noted war correspondent Hernán Zin, traces the journey of seven refugee children from Syria, who are moving across Europe in search of new beginnings.

Warehoused (2017) explores the plight of long-standing refugees living in Kenya’s Dadaab, the world’s second-largest refugee camp which is run by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Featuring one of its 235,000 refugees who fleeing conflict in East Africa, the documentary zooms in on one man’s journey to do everything in his power to provide for his family.

The festival closes with The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe (2016), an uplifting tale of four African-Australian women, all former refugees and victims of sexual abuse and violence, who turn their harrowing stories of survival into a joyous theatre production.

Proceeds from ticket sales will support Nobody Left Outside, a campaign launched in 2016 by the  UNHCR, which has assisted more than 853,000 displaced people as of today. Each ticket purchase will provide a family of five with sleeping mats at temporary homes in refugee shelters worldwide.

‘After Spring’, ‘Born in Syria’ and ‘Warehoused’ will be screened with both English and Chinese subtitles. ‘The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe’ will be screened with Chinese subtitles.