Refugee Filmmaking: Finding Agency through the Lens

Kaveh Abbasian

doi:10.1386/9781789387438_23

Refugee Filmmaking: Finding Agency through the Lens

By Kaveh Abbasian
Source: Constructions of the Real , pp 214-223
Publication Date: July 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781789387438_23
Language: English

Technological advances in audio-visual means of communication have resulted in a democratisation of “cinema”. Now it has become possible for anyone with as little as just a smartphone to shoot, edit and distribute films. Among all of these previously “voiceless” peoples, refugees have made particularly eye-opening films. This chapter draws on such grassroots works to show how refugees have found agency in their filmmaking and how this filmmaking is part of their collective struggle for a better life. The author connects these works with his own experience as a political refugee from Iran making first-person narrative documentaries during his journey and immediately after arriving in the UK.

Keywords: Accented Cinema ; Activist Filmmaking ; Diasporic Cinema ; Diasporic Filmmaking ; Digital Cinema ; Digital Filmmaking ; Exilic Cinema ; Exilic Filmmaking ; Imperfect Cinema ; Kurdish Cinema ; Low-Budget Filmmaking ; Low-Resolution Footage ; Non-Cinema

Hardback ISBN: 9781789387438

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Refugee Filmmaking: Finding Agency through the Lens

Intellect , 214 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781789387438_23

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References

Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2009). The exile [Film].
Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2011). Last summer in Europe [Film].
Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2022). Triumph [Film].
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[Google Scholar]
Boochani, B. ,, & Sarvestani, A. K. . (Director). ( 2017;). . Chauka, please tell us the time [Film].
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Espinosa, J. G. . ( 1979;). For an imperfect cinema. . Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 20 , 24–26. https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC20folder/ImperfectCinema.html
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Ghobadi, B. . (Director). ( 2000). A time for drunken horses [Film]. Bahman Ghobadi Films.
Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1975–79). The battle of Chile [Film]. Miramax.
Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1997). Chile, obstinate memory [Film]. National Film Board of Canada, La Sept-Arte, Les Films d'Ici.
[Google Scholar]
Guzmán, P. . ( 2015). What I owe to Chris Marker. British Film Institute. https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news/what-i-owe-chris-marker
Güney, Y. ,, Gören, Ş . (Director). ( 1982). The road [Film]. Güney Film, Cactus Film.
Ibesh, J. . (Director). ( 2016). Selfie [Film].
Naficy, H. . ( 2001). An accented cinema: Exilic and diasporic filmmaking. Princeton University Press;.
[Google Scholar]
Phillips, J. . ( 2012, September 4). The ‘Pacific Solution’ revisited: A statistical guide to the asylum seeker caseloads on Nauru and Manus Island. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/PacificSolution#_Toc334509636
Qurbani, S. . (Director). ( 2018). Homage to Kobane [Film].
Steyerl, H. . ( 2012). In defence of the poor image. . In The Wretched of the Screen (pp. 31–45). Sternberg Press;.
[Google Scholar]
Weiwei, A. . (Director). ( 2017). Human flow [Film]. AC Films, Participant Media.
Zin, H. . (Director). ( 2016). Born in Syria [Film]. La Claqueta, Contramedia Films, Doc Land Films, Final Cut for Real.

References

Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2009). The exile [Film].
Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2011). Last summer in Europe [Film].
Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2022). Triumph [Film].
Benjamin, W. . ( 2008). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Penguin;.
[Google Scholar]
Boochani, B. ,, & Sarvestani, A. K. . (Director). ( 2017;). . Chauka, please tell us the time [Film].
Brown, W. . ( 2018). None-cinema: Global digital cinema and the multitude . Bloomsbury Publishing;.
[Google Scholar]
Espinosa, J. G. . ( 1979;). For an imperfect cinema. . Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 20 , 24–26. https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC20folder/ImperfectCinema.html
[Google Scholar]
Fanon, F. . ( 2004). The wretched of the earth. 1961. (Trans. Richard Philcox.) Grove Press 6.
Ghobadi, B. . (Director). ( 2000). A time for drunken horses [Film]. Bahman Ghobadi Films.
Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1975–79). The battle of Chile [Film]. Miramax.
Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1997). Chile, obstinate memory [Film]. National Film Board of Canada, La Sept-Arte, Les Films d'Ici.
[Google Scholar]
Guzmán, P. . ( 2015). What I owe to Chris Marker. British Film Institute. https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news/what-i-owe-chris-marker
Güney, Y. ,, Gören, Ş . (Director). ( 1982). The road [Film]. Güney Film, Cactus Film.
Ibesh, J. . (Director). ( 2016). Selfie [Film].
Naficy, H. . ( 2001). An accented cinema: Exilic and diasporic filmmaking. Princeton University Press;.
[Google Scholar]
Phillips, J. . ( 2012, September 4). The ‘Pacific Solution’ revisited: A statistical guide to the asylum seeker caseloads on Nauru and Manus Island. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/PacificSolution#_Toc334509636
Qurbani, S. . (Director). ( 2018). Homage to Kobane [Film].
Steyerl, H. . ( 2012). In defence of the poor image. . In The Wretched of the Screen (pp. 31–45). Sternberg Press;.
[Google Scholar]
Weiwei, A. . (Director). ( 2017). Human flow [Film]. AC Films, Participant Media.
Zin, H. . (Director). ( 2016). Born in Syria [Film]. La Claqueta, Contramedia Films, Doc Land Films, Final Cut for Real.

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[ref-c18bib1] Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2009). The exile [Film].

[ref-c18bib2] Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2011). Last summer in Europe [Film].

[ref-c18bib3] Abbasian, K. . (Director). ( 2022). Triumph [Film].

[ref-c18bib4] Benjamin, W. . ( 2008). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Penguin;.
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib5] Boochani, B. ,, & Sarvestani, A. K. . (Director). ( 2017;). . Chauka, please tell us the time [Film].

[ref-c18bib6] Brown, W. . ( 2018). None-cinema: Global digital cinema and the multitude . Bloomsbury Publishing;.
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib7] Espinosa, J. G. . ( 1979;). For an imperfect cinema. . Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 20 , 24–26. https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC20folder/ImperfectCinema.html
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib8] Fanon, F. . ( 2004). The wretched of the earth. 1961. (Trans. Richard Philcox.) Grove Press 6.

[ref-c18bib9] Ghobadi, B. . (Director). ( 2000). A time for drunken horses [Film]. Bahman Ghobadi Films.

[ref-c18bib10] Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1975–79). The battle of Chile [Film]. Miramax.

[ref-c18bib11] Guzmán, P. . (Director). ( 1997). Chile, obstinate memory [Film]. National Film Board of Canada, La Sept-Arte, Les Films d'Ici.
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib12] Guzmán, P. . ( 2015). What I owe to Chris Marker. British Film Institute. https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news/what-i-owe-chris-marker

[ref-c18bib13] Güney, Y. ,, Gören, Ş . (Director). ( 1982). The road [Film]. Güney Film, Cactus Film.

[ref-c18bib14] Ibesh, J. . (Director). ( 2016). Selfie [Film].

[ref-c18bib15] Naficy, H. . ( 2001). An accented cinema: Exilic and diasporic filmmaking. Princeton University Press;.
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib16] Phillips, J. . ( 2012, September 4). The ‘Pacific Solution’ revisited: A statistical guide to the asylum seeker caseloads on Nauru and Manus Island. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/PacificSolution#_Toc334509636

[ref-c18bib17] Qurbani, S. . (Director). ( 2018). Homage to Kobane [Film].

[ref-c18bib18] Steyerl, H. . ( 2012). In defence of the poor image. . In The Wretched of the Screen (pp. 31–45). Sternberg Press;.
[Google Scholar]

[ref-c18bib19] Weiwei, A. . (Director). ( 2017). Human flow [Film]. AC Films, Participant Media.

[ref-c18bib20] Zin, H. . (Director). ( 2016). Born in Syria [Film]. La Claqueta, Contramedia Films, Doc Land Films, Final Cut for Real.

Refugee Filmmaking: Finding Agency through the Lens

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