From Syria To Hope

"From Syria To Hope" is an official Films With A Cause documentary directed by Yazmeen Kanji. The film was made in collaboration with York Region Muslims to explore the lives of three Syrian families who arrived to Canada under refugee status. Each family lives in the Greater Toronto Area and has a unique story. The individuals featured in the film reflect on their hopes and dreams after having no choice but to leave their homes in war-torn Syria. The film is intended to be an educational tool to combat discrimination, islamophobia and xenophobia.

  • Yazmeen Kanji
    Director
  • Zoya Abou-Jaish
    Post-Production Translation
  • Arvin Fekri
    Music Composition
  • Cathy Nosaty
    Music Composition
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Educational, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    35 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 30, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    Arabic, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Yazmeen Kanji

Yazmeen Kanji’s Bio
Yazmeen Kanji is an emerging South Asian Muslim filmmaker and the founder of Films With A Cause (filmswithacause.org), an advocacy organization and a production company for underrepresented storytelling, as well as a public speaker. Yazmeen gave the keynote speech at the 2019 Womxn Offering Wisdom Self-Love & Self Care Conference for young South Asian womxn and spoke at the 2019 Bur Oak Secondary School Female Empowerment Conference, representing Films With A Cause. She is a 2020 Dean’s Scholar graduate from the University of Toronto where she completed a double major in Equity Studies and Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs with a minor in Cinema Studies. Yazmeen began directing award-winning narrative short films at the age of 15 and has since expanded into documentary filmmaking. She was awarded for two narrative short films on youth gang violence by a local film festival in York Region, having the opportunity to visit the set of Saving Hope for a day and shadow the episode’s director. While beginning the early stages of her filmmaking career during her undergrad, Yazmeen was featured in RBC’s Future Launch commercial. Her first documentary, From Syria To Hope (2019) was awarded Best Short Doc at the 2019 Toronto Short Film Festival. Yazmeen independently produced, filmed, directed, edited and distributed From Syria To Hope, highlighting the experiences of three Syrian families who arrived to Canada under refugee status. Yazmeen is also the Administrative Assistant at Charles Officer’s production company, Canesugar Filmworks, and acted as the Behind The Scenes videographer for Officer’s feature film, Akilla’s Escape. Before her final undergraduate year, she took her interests international and worked as an Intern at a production company called Passionedia in Dubai that seeks to alter traditional norms, where she directed a public service announcement for a Polio vaccination campaign that aired in Pakistan. Additionally, Yazmeen directed a docu-series called Beyond The Blue Line about the men’s hockey team at the University of Toronto and she is currently directing a docu-series about refugee cooks called World Table for Matthew House Toronto in collaboration with Deloitte Canada. Yazmeen recently directed a short documentary through the Inside Out Film Lab, With Love From Munera (2020), which premiered at the 2020 Inside Out Film Festival.

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Director Statement

My mother worked locally with our community mosque to help ease the transition for Syrian families who had just arrived to Canada as refugees. I was able to volunteer and interact with the newcomers on a personal level. Hearing xenophobic and islamophobic comments directed toward these refugees at this time was very upsetting, especially as I was able to determine the knowledge gaps causing these misunderstandings. The subject of this film is extremely sensitive, yet as someone who has witnessed the chaotic resettlement efforts in the Greater Toronto Area, I felt that these unique stories must be heard. Behind the sensationalized news about “floods of Syrian refugees” are people who are thankful for safety, and who greatly miss their homeland and families left behind. From finding families willing to share their experiences, to filming, editing and coordinating translation, the making of “From Syria To Hope” has by no means been an easy process. As a student-made film with virtually no budget, there have been many challenges. It has been an emotional journey and wearing most of the hats for this film has been very difficult. I haven’t had the chance to pursue a project of this magnitude before and so I wanted it to be the best it could be with the limited resources I was working with. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment to start filming I jumped right into it. Looking back at the footage, there are different techniques I would use if I were to do it again. However, I’m hoping the message of hope and humanity will resonate, and that people will appreciate the importance of student work as well.