Salam Neighbor
[7] Salam Neighbor is a component of a three-part project focused on the Syrian refugee crisis: the documentary, a virtual reality (VR) film[8] and a social impact campaign.
[12] The "East meets West" approach to humanize the Arab world reflects the strategy of the film's other producers Mohab Khattab and Salam Darwaza, the co-founders of 1001 MEDIA.
[13] Salam Neighbor concentrates on five Syrian refugees: Ghoussoon, a nurse who built a home business to provide for her children, Um Ali, a grandmother struggling to overcome personal loss and cultural barriers, Raouf, a street smart 10-year-old boy who hides his trauma behind his smile, Ghassem, a 30-something relief worker who lost everything he built in his life, and Ismail, a 20-something father finding his way after his college education was interrupted by the Syrian crisis.
For example, Um Ali was shown to have created opportunity out of crisis by developing and selling her art and working for an NGO to support her husband for the first time.
That quote summarizes the strains between the goals and expertise of the NGOs in providing "first-aid" and the desires of the refugees to begin to recover and rebuild their lives.
[18] Both The Wall Street Journal[19] and Fast Company[20] noted Salam Neighbor marks the first time UNHCR has allowed filmmakers to be registered and embedded in a refugee camp with a tent.
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) added that "On a subject too often discussed in terms of numbers, [Salam Neighbor] capture[s] the human element of one of the greatest refugee crises of this generation.”[26] The International Rescue Committee stated "if this film brings greater awareness, understanding and compassion for the Syrians we work with every day, it will be, indeed, well worth our time.
It will leave you touched and inspired to take action.”[28] Carolyn Miles, the CEO of Save the Children, added the film pushes "the boundaries of how we tell stories and maximize social impact in the 21st century.
[33] In order to cover the urban refugee situation, Salam Neighbor developed the virtual reality (VR) film For My Son in partnership with RYOT and UNOCHA.
In the Variety article, Salam Neighbor co-director/producer Zach Ingrasci was quoted as saying “If we can mobilize that shift in the narrative to have real change in policy, that can have a huge effect ...
The goal is to create a more sustainable and connected response for Syrian refugees.”[43] The major themes of the film's impact campaign are supporting both (i) refugee host countries, and (ii) education opportunities for children whose schooling is interrupted by conflict or disaster.
In May 2016, US Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Judith Rowland of Global Citizen featured Salam Neighbor in an article they published on MSNBC, entitled "Syrian refugee crisis creates huge gap in education funding.
[49][50] Salam Neighbor has partnered with Global Citizen, Creative Visions Foundation,[51] Take Part[52] and RYOT to increase awareness of issues related to the Syrian refugee crisis among policy makers and influencers (grass tops advocacy).
On March 15, 2016, Global Citizen reached out to encourage world leaders[53] to increase educational funding for children affected by crisis using clips from Salam Neighbor.
[57][58] Clips from Salam Neighbor were also included and credited in a Bono-narrated video[59] that played immediately before President Obama spoke at the "Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis" he hosted on September 20, 1016 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.
Beyond AFI and NBCUniversal, Salam Neighbor's social impact partners are the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Save the Children.
"[82] When Salam Neighbor launched in the UK on Netflix, the Guardian newspaper said the film is "an attention-grabbing, eye-level view of a crisis that many of us have spent more time discussing than imagining.
[84] AFS is a film diplomacy program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is produced by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts (SCA).
[94] Salam Neighbor received the 2016 Media Award Honoring Voices of Courage & Conscience for a feature documentary[95] from the US Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).
