Moving to Mars, the new film following a refugee family who are resettled in Sheffield, opens this Friday at the ICA in London with a Q&A from director-of-the-moment Mat Whitecross.
Rick Jones, who manages Refugee Action’s Gateway resettlement programme in Bolton, has seen the film:
Moving to Mars – a great documentary! I’ve seen the film three times now and I’m still hooked on the way it so neatly captures some of the issues faced by refugees as they resettle into unfamiliar places and cultures.
Image from Moving to Mars documentary
The cynic in me knows that films are cut and edited to fit a story but when I saw M2M I immediately recognised the characters in the film as people we’ve worked with at Refugee Action over the past five years on our resettlement programme.
The story is one of cultural adjustment and the impact on the two families who are the subject of the film, and follows their journey from refugee camp to resettlement in Sheffield.
It challenges the notion of what life is like as a refugee in a camp – most people will have an image of what a refugee camp should look like from news stories of various crises around the world – usually images of suffering in the immediate aftermath, all blue UNHCR tarpaulin and sick children.
M2M shows a camp of tens of thousands of people who have organised and structured their lives to make it more bearable and although it shows the checkpoints and soldiers who restrict freedom of movement outside the camp, it doesn’t show just how repressive and harsh the military regime in Thailand is to refugees – presumably this is the trade off for being allowed to film there.
Some of the group shown in the film were resettled in the Manchester region at the same time as M2M was made. In fact our last family, delayed for health reasons, arrived last summer. What struck me most about that particular family was they had become refugees and had lived in the same camp since 1967 – the year I was born.
I still struggle to get my head around that – the sheer waste of time with lives put on hold for over 40 years. My other memory is calling round to their house to introduce myself on the days they arrived in the UK following a journey of more than 24 hours. When I commented that the family must feel tired after their journey, the husband got up and stated that he was ok and was ready to work that day if he was needed… We have so much to learn about resilience…
I’ve used M2M as a training resource and plan to continue if I’m allowed! We recently expanded our programme in Greater Manchester and used the film in the induction of new workers – their reaction was really positive and it gave us an opportunity to look at some of the complex issues faced by resettled refugees. Without giving the game away, it does challenge assumptions……..!
Rick Jones is Gateway Manager at Refugee Action in Bolton.
For details of screenings and bookings see:
http://www.ica.org.uk/Moving%20to%20Mars%3A%20A%20Million%20Miles%20from%20Burma+23314.twl
More info about the film:
http://www.movingtomarsfilm.com/index2.php?page=you
Posted by Sara Ayech
Hi Rick
I’m Jim Glennon, just started with Refugee Action as new National Volunteer Coordinator. Saw the film last night and agree can be a terrific training aid.
I’m also a CIPD qualified trainer, still involved in regular training design for other organisations and would be happy to help in any way I can re:additional trainin options (sure you’e some sorted already) with the fuilm if you’re interested .
Just give me a bell at the London Ofice .
I’m in most days.
Jim