In 2007, Perla and Adam were busy traveling all over, trying desperately to find homes for Palestinian refugees from Iraq. In May, the initial siege of Nahr Al-Bared Camp in Lebanon began, and as the situation persisted, Perla and Adam also started meeting and talking to the displaced refugees from that camp, and joining in efforts to help.
In the course of this work and trying to find ways to help, we started realizing how little information and awareness there was of the depths of what Palestinian refugees had lived through and experienced, and continue to experience on a daily basis.
At first the idea was to take a microcosm of this population those Palestinians without ID papers, who face the most immense of problems and who have very few, if any, choices. But after starting to focus only on this group, we realized that while the ‘non-IDs’ are most susceptible, it is really all Palestinian refugees who face insecurity, instability and who make choices (when they can) according to similar calculations around the world based on their experience as Palestinian refugees.
As Perla and Adam developed these ideas and continued to work to help refugees trapped on the Iraqi-Syrian borders and also those displaced in Lebanon, they met with Aseel in Jordan, and brought him into the project. Though he probably thought we were insane, he didn’t say anything and joined the project.
What began as a focused look at a part of the Palestinian refugee population, became an epic that seeks to go in-depth into the Palestinian refugee experience around the world, over 60 years. It is a part of a people’s history from their perspective.
Filming began in September 2007 and editing started in late December 2007, even as we continued to travel to film interviews.
In the course of this work and trying to find ways to help, we started realizing how little information and awareness there was of the depths of what Palestinian refugees had lived through and experienced, and continue to experience on a daily basis.
At first the idea was to take a microcosm of this population those Palestinians without ID papers, who face the most immense of problems and who have very few, if any, choices. But after starting to focus only on this group, we realized that while the ‘non-IDs’ are most susceptible, it is really all Palestinian refugees who face insecurity, instability and who make choices (when they can) according to similar calculations around the world based on their experience as Palestinian refugees.
As Perla and Adam developed these ideas and continued to work to help refugees trapped on the Iraqi-Syrian borders and also those displaced in Lebanon, they met with Aseel in Jordan, and brought him into the project. Though he probably thought we were insane, he didn’t say anything and joined the project.
What began as a focused look at a part of the Palestinian refugee population, became an epic that seeks to go in-depth into the Palestinian refugee experience around the world, over 60 years. It is a part of a people’s history from their perspective.
Filming began in September 2007 and editing started in late December 2007, even as we continued to travel to film interviews.
What began as a focused look at a part of the Palestinian refugee population, became an epic that seeks to go in-depth into the Palestinian refugee experience around the world, over 60 years.
Perla Issa holds a Master of Arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. She worked with Shapiro on the documentary “Nowhere to Flee” (2007) and is part of a team working on a multi-faceted research and documentary project on “Arabs and Terrorism” (2006).
Assel Mansour is an independent filmmaker from Jordan. He is a member of the Royal Film Commission in Jordan and of the Amman Filmmakers Collective. His filmography includes: “Little Feet” (2006), Nightmares of Reality” (2003), and as co-director of “Alert Guns” (2004).
Adam Shapiro is human rights activist and documentary filmmaker. He was co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine. He has made the documentaries “About Baghdad” (2005) and “darfur diaries: message from home” (2006), “Becoming Nadya” (2007) and “Nowhere to Flee” (2007). Adam has a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a MA in Politics from New York University.