To part is to die a little,
What you love dies:
You leave a little of yourself
At any time and in any place.
Edmund Haraucourt (1856-1941)
In Your Eyes is a documentary about migrants in Europe by Sandra Alloush, a Syrian refugee, journalist and documentarist, in collaboration with Enrique Tessieri, editor of Migrant Tales, a community blog founded in 2007.
The documentary is funded by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) as a part of the #makeracismhisotry campaign in collaboration with New Women Connectors and Migrant Tales.
The documentary’s first screening will be in Utrecht, Holland, on 15 October and will be followed by different screening events in Europe.
In Your Eyes not only aims to be a powerful and honest documentary exposing racism in Europe, but how migrants and refugees survive in an ever-hositle continent. All the people in the documentary are true survivors. Europe needs more inclusion, not less.
Sandra Alloush
Sandra is a Syrian refugee who has lived in Strasbourg, France, since 2015. She makes documentaries and news reports about migrants and refugees in Europe and has won international awards for her work. Her journey from Syria to France was marked by danger and uncertainty. “After a very brief wedding, we left Syria in a bullet-proof car,” she said.
Apart from the suffering of refugees and migrants, one of the most difficult matters for Sandra is parting and witnessing how the family fragments to pieces when you become a refugee.
Sandra Alloush. Photo: ?
“My father parted when I was 11 years old and it was so hard on me,” she said. “At age 20, I had to part with my two brothers and friends and at 27 I had to leave my mother [in Syria]. And now, I am alone. Everything I’ve lost makes me feel a bit numb inside.”
Despite having grown up in a war-ravaged country and lived as a refugee, Sandra said that such difficult experiences made her into a stronger person.
“Now, as an adult and an activist, it makes me prouder and more fulfilled that I had such experiences,” she continued. “I wouldn’t change many things of my life as painful as they were.”
Sandra said that she could have chosen to stay in Syria and to ride out the whole war and not become a migrant or refugee. “You never know, I may have even died there,” she added.
The human rights activist, journalist and documentarist said that at this point in her life she is interested in working with NGOs and writing about important social causes than what the media covers. Human rights are close to her heart, she added.
“I want to write about our shared experiences,” she continued. “In the face of so many injustices, some people can move on and continue doing nothing while others, like us, cannot. We have a sense of responsibility to the people that we are writing about and documenting. I feel we need people who are crazy enough to feel this way.”
“That’s why I so happy to meet Enrique and to find and form a real partnership with him, so we can create this documentary together and start new ones afterward,” she concluded.
Enrique Tessieri
Enrique is a sociologist who has worked in journalism as a foreign correspondent for over 20 years in countries like Argentina, Colombia, Italy, Spain and Finland. He founded Migrant Tales in 2007, a blog that aims to give a voice to migrants and other minorities.
Enrique Tessieri. Photo: Länsi-Savo.
“The mainstream media does not cover migrants and minorities comprehensively,” he said. “While this is unfortunate, it does leave a lot of stories uncovered. Here is where Migrant Tales steps in.”
Like Sandra, Enrique has been a migrant during most of his life. His experiences have given him as well a rewarding life. In 1977, he started doing research on Finnish colony in a subtopic region of Argentina. He has written two books, a play, countless articles and academic papers on the colony.
Enrique said he is happy and honored to work with Sandra in making In Your Eyes a powerful documentary that offers an honest and brave look at the situation that some migrants and refugees face in today’s Europe.
“Their voices must be heard, too,” he said.