LEBANON SYRIA / The Refugee Film Project

The Refugee Film Project, financed by the Belgian NGO SB Overseas, gives some 30 young Syrian refugees the chance to learn about film-making.

Aged between 9 and 14 they all live in the Chatila camp, south of Beirut. Nearly 10,000 Palestinian refugees live in the camp, which dates back to 1948, and since 2011 there has been a steady stream of Syrian refugees as well.

For six weeks, about thirty young Syrians were given the chance to hold a camera and become actors.

The script-writing is overseen by Aphra Evans, a British teacher, the film-making by Shiyam Jones, an Anglo-Austrian director. “Western cameras always focus on Syrian children,” says Jones. “We wanted to reverse the situation and put the children behind the camera.”

The project will continue until the beginning of July. Already six short films have been completed, including a love story (Betrayal in Beirut) and a horror film with witches. It’s hoped that ultimately all these short films will be brought together in a single documentary highlighting the creativity of these young Syrians in the Chatila camp.

Sources: franceinfo, 20minutes, sboverseas.org, La Croix