Running with the refugees

running with the refugees blog

this summer, the summer of 2015, the civil war in syria became more than just a background noise from the daily news. we've seen the endless hordes of people getting closer, but only when they appeared on the horizon we understood it's reality.

people got worried, for the sake of the refugees, for their own sake, started considering all sorts of questions, yet tv footage didn't answer much. in those static shots the anonymous made statements which only result in even bigger doubt.

questions remain. what's really happening? who are those people? do they have the right to go across the borders unchecked? do the european nations have the responsibility to meet their requirements? why out of ten of them nine are male men between 20 and 35 years of age? are they really refugees in the proper sense? what part of them isn't? are they partly oportunists? smuggled islamists?

we realized a fixed camera can't efficiently present the phenomena of which motion is the main characteristic, nor are several seconds enough to acknowledge anything about a person. camera should move together with them, so we can get to know them better, hear them better, see them better, hoping we can finally understand as much as it is possible.

we reacted immediately, met up in sarajevo, kaja brought the equipment fom zagreb, matija came from dubrovnik, ivana from belgrade. together with raif we are creating the plan:

1. while passing through bosnia, monte negro, macedonia and greece we shall interview the residents of those countries, record their thoughts and opinions on the subject.

2. already there we should start uploading the photographs and our comments from the road and collect the video material, both of those will be proceeded to the end of the project.

3. upon arrival in thessaloniki we plan to join a larger group of immigrants and from there on to stick with them by the principle of following the bigger part of the group when it splits.

4. from thessaloniki we expect to move first through macedonia and then serbia and croatia, but that's only an assumption, we want to go with the refugees wherever they go, using their methods and their means, is it train, by walk, through the woods, over the borders.

5. the goal is understanding the positions of the main protagonists, the refugees, the inhabitants of the lands they go through, the police, the volunteers, the governments of those states, and recording the conditions in which it all happens.

6. making a documentary film after coming back to zagreb, using the footage we shot.

left to right: raif šehić, matija hajdarhodžić, kaja šišmanović, ivana đorđević

the departure from sarajevo is expected within the first several days of october, ariving to thessaloniki some five days later. we believe it will take up to twenty days from thessaloniki to zagreb. so the material is supposed to be shot during october and edited during november.

ivana đorđević will cooperate from belgrade, mainly dealing with logistics.

we have one video camera, one photo camera and a hard disc for storing the material. we are also experienced in off road travelling and off road shooting.

black route: we start from sarajevo, by busses to thessaloniki

blue route: we start from thessaloniki, with the refugees, end in zagreb

red dot: indicates the current position of the camera


the budget we have for the project is so far strictly from our personal funds and is not enough to cover all of our trip's expences, so we need additional financing in order to be able to complete the project.
by donating you will help us with:

• bus tickets = 450€
  (sarajevo - podgorica - ulcinj - shkodër - tirana - struga - ohrid - bitola - thessaloniki)
  
• food for a month on the road = 630€
• SIM cards for accessing the internet in every country we enter = 60€
• additional battery pack for the camera = 40€

thank you for your support!

the runners