In the summer of 2017 a team of students and faculty from Montclair State’s School of Communication and Media (SCM) went on a 10-day journey to Lesvos, Greece, where they produced feature videos focused on the island’s ongoing refugee crisis. Professors Tom Franklin, Steve McCarthy and David Sanders provided hands-on teaching and mentorship for students Nadia Abbas, Allison Councill, Shawn Latham, Kristie Keleshian, and Danielle Weidner Oliveira, who each produced their own individual five-minute documentary video.
Movement on the Ground: Lesvos, Greece
By Danielle Oliveira
This piece focuses on Adil Izemrane, the head of mission for a non-profit organization called “Movement on the Ground,” which is based in the Kara Tepe refugee camp on the Greek island, Lesvos. Izemrane discusses how his team is striving to transform the camp’s environment from a camp into a campus; a unique quality which many refugee camps lack.
Niko’s Home: Dinner for Refugees
By Allison Councill
Every night, 15 to 30 refugees are invited to eat for free at a restaurant located in Skala Sikountos Lesvos, Greece. The restaurant, named Home, is owned and run by local Greeks, Nikos and Katarina Katouris. With help from friends, family, and volunteers who purchase food and offer donations, they are able to afford food to serve their guests.
One Happy Family
By Kristie Keleshian
A community center on the Greek island of Lesvos acts as “One Happy Family” for people fleeing from wars and crises in the Middle-East and Northern Africa, with the goal of providing “dignity and self-determination” to the thousands of people who are stuck in Lesvos’ refugee camps as they await for asylum in the EU.