A Windsor organization would like a film produced locally to spur conversation about what it's like to be a young refugee living in the city.
"Through Their Eyes - Stories Of Refugee Youth" makes its public premiere Monday night at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Windsor. It focuses on the stories of young men and women who's families have fled to Canada from dire circumstances around the world. Most of the teenagers featured in the film are Muslim, but not all.
The film is based on a play by local playwright, Chris Rabideau. Production started three years ago, and a local film crew followed the protagonists as they continued to adjust to life in their new country.
Filmmaker Svjetlana Oppen says she felt a kinship with the young men and women, being a refugee herself from Bosnia-Herzegovina two decades ago. She says while she was able to blend into Canadian society relatively seamlessly, being Caucasian and English-speaking, many of the subjects of the film are working to overcome language, racial and religious barriers. Despite their challenges, she was struck by their poise and strength of character.
"They just behave, and play just like every other teenager but in the background they lost family members to grenades falling through their roofs," she says. "That is unimaginable to a Canadian teenager."
The film has been shown twice before, to students at the University of Windsor in the education and law faculties.
Executive producer Cassandra Richardson works with refugees at Windsor Women Working With Immigrant Women and hopes the film challenges stereotypes of refugees. Most notably that all receive government benefits. Many are not government-assisted. She also hopes it helps people empathize with those making the transition to Canadian culture.
"I guess, on the very basic, human level, is the appreciation, at least the acknowledgement. Think. Think before you make comments," she says.
Richardson argues the state of being a refugee is not foreign to Canadians, pointing out that all Canadians (with the exception of First Nations and Inuit peoples) are immigrants to this country at some point in their ancestry.
The filming is at 6:30pm, and there is a panel discussion afterwards.
