Refugees – postcards from a journey

“Refugees” is a fear-inducing topic, as it is often seen in a simplified context of ethnic logic and dreading something new. People often do not understand that a refugee is a special kind of fugitive – without a home, saving himself by fleeing not in search of paradise on earth, but trying to avoid hell. As in any mass of people, not everyone is perfect. We forget, however, there is practically no nation that would refuse refugees in the past. From the time of the 18^th century partitions until the final collapse of communism, Poles were always welcomed by foreign nations.

The current influx of refugees is a difficult socio-cultural phenomenon. It is not just about the scale of the event, but also about cultural unfamiliarity of this wave. The set “Refugees: Postcards from a Journey” is trying to get closer to their misery: it is not a carefree journey across the continents, but full of sacrifice and humiliation attempt to find peace on earth. The films are so arranged to present the beginning and the end of refugees’ journeys – from the initial escape (“Elmando”, “Godka Cirka”), through a panicky attempt to find a new home in exile (“Be My Ally”) and humiliation that affects them (“Aissa”) to the important question: What next? When the war ends, when you are absorbed into the fabric of society, the return to the old house usually means the destruction of the newly created one…

1. Elmando, dir./reż. Anton Octavian, Rumunia, DRKongo 2014, 3′5”
2. Godka cirka – Hole in the Sky, dir./reż. Àlex Lora, Antonio Tibaldi, USA 2013, 10′
3. Waramutseho, dir./reż. Kouemo Auguste Bernard, Belgia 2009, 21”
4. Aissa, dir./reż. Clément Tréhin-Lalanne, Francja 2014, 8′
5. Bądź mi sojusznikiem , dir./reż. Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam, Kamerun 2012, 21′
6. The Cessation / Ustanie, reż. Lotte Manicom, RPA, Angola 2014, 16′