Refuge

The footage for the video was shot in May and June of this year while I was at the artist residency "Die Kolonie" in Worpswede, Germany. During that time, I was meeting with refugees most of who had arrived in Germany in October and November 2015. In addition, I met with various organizations, volunteers and activists who are trying to ease the many difficulties these newly arrived people experience on a daily basis.

Filming took place in parts of northern Germany: in larger cities, rural towns and in Berlin. I also returned to my hometown to record several scenes at a temporary refugee shelter. Over thirty years ago my parents and I had arrived as refugees from Poland in this particular German town. Now refugees from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea were put up in my former elementary school.

Because of the partly abstract nature of the footage, the complicated matter at hand and in the absence of the interviewee's spoken word, I decided to collaborate with sound artist Ezra Teboul. This collaborative project is an audio-visual response to one of the most challenging crises of our times which threatens nations, individuals and our empathy towards those displaced.