LIVE |
HISHAMDHEISHEH CAMP WEST BANK |
Hisham is a documentary filmmaker– he wants to tell the story of his people. This is a precious freedom amongst the violence in the occupied West Bank, which escalates daily from the Israeli soldiers that target young Palestinian men. While most youth from the camp angrily turn to vengeance, Hisham works two jobs, dedicating 60 hours a week filming for a small non-profit empowering Palestinian women. His passion in the last few years has been to create a documentary film that imparts the history and story of the camp on to younger generations, to tell their story lest it be forgotten. But he struggles to find the time outside of work to film, and worries he will have to take on even more work to make ends meet.
LOVE |
AHMADSHATILA CAMP LEBANON |
Ahmed is in love. He has asked Aya's family for her hand in marriage four times, and each time they have refused, pushing for Aya to marry outside the camp for a better chance in life. Ahmed is uneducated, having left school when he was eight, and makes no money as a barber at his father's shop. The fear of becoming like everyone else in the camp hangs heavy over Ahmed's head– a future of living alone, stuck without hope of something more.
LEAVE |
FAISALGAZA CAMP JORDAN |
Faisal is a university graduate with a degree in English Literature, with dreams of becoming a translator and itching to escape the claustrophobic confines of the camp… but he is not even allowed to work at the local McDonalds. Even though he is one of the privileged few who was able receive an education, the re-installment of an old law has suddenly trapped Faisal, prohibiting refugees like him from working almost any job legally in Jordan, and subsequently blocking from pursuing the career he desires and is qualified.
THIS IS THE CAMP.
Alejandro Gomez-Meade
It wasn’t until I stepped into Shatila camp that I began to realize I knew nothing about refugees. Shatila was a place that existed for more than 6 decades, containing over 40,000 people in less than a square mile. It's a place just minutes away from the nicest hotels and restaurants in Lebanon but most people from the outside will never go in. It’s in a sea of noise, dark alleyways and tangled wires that people somehow find a way to survive and it's here this story begins.
This Is The Camp is an intimate journey into the lives of three young men who by fate and circumstance were born into a place where they have no rights as human beings. They come from three vastly different camps in Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank but they all share the same burden of being third generation Palestinian refugees.
Over the course of a year they will encounter immense challenges and triumphs in their attempt to be free. A gentle rapping barber will attempt again to marry the woman he loves, a charming English literature major will leave the only place he's known and a soft spoken storyteller will try to survive in order to give his community a voice.
This Is The Camp is an independent feature length documentary being made with the generous love and support of people like you.
Director Alejandro Gomez-Meade
Pre Trailer 1 Original Soundtrack Glen Gómez-Meade
Special Thanks
Mahmud Al Haj
Ali AL Rabaan
Suzann Mollner
Lauren Haroutunian