Lebanon Street Children's Own Animated Films Screened in International Film Festival
For an emerging filmmaker to be selected to take part in an international film festival is a great achievement. It is an even bigger achievement when a child who had to leave school and work on the streets gets selected to participate in a recognized worldwide movie festival.
But in the cases of Adib, Hassan, Kamal and Miled, this is exactly what happened. All of these young boys had to drop out of primary school because of poverty and conflict. All have endured the hardship and exploitation of child labor, and all have created animated films that were selected from amongst thousands of others entries to be screened at The Sydney International Festival of Films by Children (Kidz Flicks), 2015. This festival is a spectacular 5 day, 6 venue event that screens child produced films from all over Australia and the world.
(Kamal, 13, working on his animated film)
Although these children have been out of school for a significant amount of time, they have developed their stories, created their animations and narrated their own short films. During an animation workshop conducted by Save the Children, Adib, Hassan, Kamal and Miled learned how to develop story lines, plan, draft story boards, draw, color, and assemble the hundreds of images required for their films. This project is part of Save the Children Lebanon’s ongoing strategy to empower children to become their own advocates, using such mediums as art, video, photography and animation.
The children tell their stories through animation and reflect on their experiences as young boys who had no choice but to leave their education and work on the streets to help their families survive. These children reside in Lebanon, a country hosting the highest number of Syrian refugees in the region, where the increase in child labor has become inevitable: more than 400,000 Syrian refugee children are of school going age, more than 80 per cent of them are not enrolled in school and tens of thousands are involved in some form of child labor. Many Lebanese children have been driven out of schools and into dangerous, exploitative and exhausting work as well, mainly due to the country’s declining economy and rising unemployment.
Children are often employed for arduous manual tasks like potato picking and as porters in markets and restaurants because they are easier to control and are paid a fraction of what an adult would earn for the same work. In many cases, children endure physical and emotional abuse. “If I made a mistake, my boss would shout at me and hit me with his iron rod” says 12 year old Miled in his film. Miled, is a Lebanese boy who had to quit school and find a job when his father could no longer afford to keep him in school. Adib, Kamal and Hassan are all Syrian children, affected by the war and enduring exploitative conditions just to make ends meet.
MEET THE CHILDREN AND WATCH THEIR FILMS:
ADIB - Adib is a 13 year old boy who had to leave Syria after the war erupted. He joined his parents who work in Lebanon but his family couldn’t afford to send him to school, especially after his father lost his job. Adib had to work as a delivery boy in a supermarket under harsh and abusive conditions in order to support his family.
KAMAL - After an explosion in front of their house in Syria, 13 year old Kamal and his family fled to Lebanon. Kareem could not continue his education because he had to work to help his family. He worked as a delivery boy in a grocery shop and a café. His family has lost everything as a result of the conflict, but more than anything else, he wants go back to school and dreams of becoming a civil engineer.
HASSAN - 14 year old Hassan left Syria nine years ago and moved to Lebanon with his family. When the crisis erupted in Syria, Hassan’s dad lost his job as a construction worker because employers preferred to hire younger and cheaper refugee workers who had come to Lebanon. Hassan’s family couldn’t afford to send him and his brother to school anymore, so he decided to work instead.
MILED – Miled is a 12 year old Lebanese boy who had to quit school after his father got sick. He began working at a car garage to support his family, enduring physical and emotional abuse for two years.
The Making Of photo essay of the children's films is available to view in the photo section under Street Children produce animated films that were screened in The Sydney International Festival of Films by Children 2015
