ABOUT

BEGINNING.
Refugee employment charity Breaking Barriers had ambitious plans to create a noisy yet insightful campaign that challenged the public’s perception of refugees in the UK. Against the backdrop of negative stories in the press and the government’s hostile environment policy, the organisation wanted to bring those they support front and centre of this awareness campaign for Refugee Week 2023.

CONCEPT.
Create a nuanced documentary that takes audiences inside the real stories of those taking their first steps in the UK after being given leave to remain.

Design a bespoke training programme for five refugees to work on the making of the documentary to gain skills and insights that would support them with pathways into the film-making industry

EXECUTION.
The Film:
Gulsom, Bahaa, Zarith, Bahadury and Joel are all refugees living in the UK. But that’s where the similarities end. The documentary follows them as they start to build their lives in the UK. From caring for their families to looking for work to making new friends and communities, it reveals the very real challenges they face. But it also captures the day-to-day issues that we can all relate to from dating to cooking and fashion to football.

The Traineeship:
We ran an extensive recruitment programme through Breaking Barriers to advertise five different trainee positions: Director, Producer, Researcher, Camera Assistant and Editor. These replicated Postcard’s own staffing of the documentary and provided an authentic industry experience. A shortlist was selected and candidates were invited for interview with two members of staff from Postcard. The five successful applicants included nationals of Egypt, El Salvador, Albania, Eritrea and Jordan. The trainees included those who had previously worked as journalists and in radio production alongside those with no media experience and those who had never worked before.

Each trainee’s work and experience was tailored to the specifics of their role. But it was important to us that they were given opportunities across pre-production, shoots and post-production so they had a full understanding of making a documentary from beginning to end.

Trainees brought insights to both editorial and production elements. They participated in casting and storyline meetings, helping shape the narrative and visual tone of the film. They supported discussions around safeguarding and cultural sensitivities to ensure our filming environments and processes had duty of care and safeguarding responsibilities embedded for all participants. In this way their lived experience was an inclusive process rather than a defining aspect of the project.

“I struggle with being linked to the word ‘refugee’; it freaks people out. The label is really unhelpful, and the film is trying to remove that label in some way and remind society that we are just humans.” TRAINEE DIRECTOR

RESULTS.
The finished documentary was a true collaboration between the contributors, the trainees, Breaking Barriers and Postcard. It premiered at the Barbican, gained a repeat promotional slot on the interactive screens at Outernet London and went on to win several industry awards. Several months on and the documentary continues to be used by Breaking Barriers to engage supporters with the amazing work they do. We continue to remain in touch with our trainees and are committed to supporting them with building careers in our industry.