“NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US”
DOCUMENTARY FILM

OUR LATEST FILM “NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US”, SERVES AS A CALL TO ACTION FOR MAINSTREAM MEDIA TO DEVELOP A NEW STANDARD OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITIES THEY REPORT UPON. THE 32 MINUTE FILM WAS WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY YASER AKBARI AND NAZANIN FOROGHI, TWO OF OUR SENIOR CITIZEN JOURNALISTS(AND NOW FULLY EMPLOYED TEACHING ARTISTS.

THE DOCUMENTARY, FILMED BY OUR CITIZEN JOURNALISTS, CHRONICLES THE PAST TWO TUMULTUOUS YEARS OF STRUGGLE FACED BY ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE FIRES THAT DESTROYED MORIA CAMP.

COMMISSIONED BY THE ALLIANZ KULTURSTIFTUNG, OUR FILM KICKED OFF THE 2021 BERLINER KORRESPONDENZEN ANNUAL DEBATE SERIES. IT WAS A TRUE HONOR TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH AFGHAN FILMMAKER SAHRAA KARIMI AND FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE FOUNDING DIRECTOR EYAL WEIZMAN FOR A DEEP DIVE INTO HOW THE MEDIA REPRESENTS REFUGEES AND COMMUNITIES IN CRISIS. AS THEY DID IN THEIR FILM, OUR STUDENTS AND FELLOW FILMMAKERS DELIVERED POWERFUL AND HONEST STATEMENTS AND CLARIFIED THE EXTREME NEED FOR CHANGE IN HOW THE MEDIA FUNCTIONS.

FILM TEASER (1 Minute)

The series' opening event began with the world premiere of Nothing About Us Without Us by Refocus Media Labs, a collective of young filmmakers TRAPPED BY THE EU ASYLUM PROCESS ON THE GREEK ISLAND OF Lesvos, Greece. THE film raises questions: How can asylum seekers tell their own stories; HOW TO counter IMAGES USED BY mAINSTREAM Media, WHICH LEAD TO stereotypICAL REPRESENTATION; how can refugees help shape political discussions in Europe? After NATO's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, European politicians quickly fell back into familiar patterns, and fueled fears of possible new refugee mASS MovementS. Those directly affected and those who had long suffered from the rigid EU border policy once again had little say in the matter. It seems like not much has changed since 2015.

OFFICIAL FILM TRAILER

Under the title Break-Up , the debate series Berliner Korrespondenzen deals with tensions and cracks in the social fabric of post-pandemic Europe in the 2021-22 season. How do younger generations organize protests, how do they show their displeasure, how do they take responsibility - and how do they envision the future? To learn more about the dreams and doubts of the next generations, each event combines the screening of an exclusive documentary film with intense debates between high-ranking thinkers, artists and activists.

“NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US”
BERLINER-KORRESPONDENZEN DEBATE SERIES- TRAILER 1

In the subsequent debate, award-winning Afghan director and activist Sahraa Karimi, AND the renowned scientist and human rights defender Eyal Weizman discussed together with REFOCUS COFOUNDER Douglas Herman how images can make politics, what practical solidarity can look like in times of multiple humanitarian crises, and how the subjects of media coverage can become authors of their own stories. In order to speak not only about but also to those at the center of the discussion, two of the film's co-directors, Yaser Akbari and Nazanin Foroghi connected live from Lesbos.

“THE BREAK UP- EPISODE 1”
BERLINER-KORRESPONDENZEN DEBATE SERIES
(LIVE FROM MAXIM GORKI THEATER, BERLIN)