PASSAGER

Abstract

The Passager

A collaborative project

Synopsis: Asef is a young Afghan refugee who left his country in search of a safer living conditions. He arrived in Greece in 2016 and was moved to the refugee camps in Athens; Piraeus port and then to Eleniko. During this period, he struggles several times to cross into Western Europe. A few months later, Asef meets Arjang Omrani and after awhile they decided to make a diary film about Asef's everyday life in Greece and his attempts to flee to other countries. Asef was coached by Arjang Omrani during the film process in which he was learning about ideas of filming, montage, and storytelling. Using his own mobile phone Asef manages to collect his video diaries that lasted for the next eight months. While showing his surroundings, Asef gives insightful portraits of Eleniko refugee camp, Victoria Park in Athens, where he goes to contact the smugglers. Also his experiences in

Patra, in the abandoned wood factory where he was sheltering, and the port where he tries to hide under the trucks that are waiting to embark on ferries to go to Italy. The young Afghan refugee not only shows the foreign places of passage but also he reflects upon his motivations of getting into this journey and the constraints and difficulties he has gone through.

“Why can’t I have a normal life!” speaks out Asef from the rooftop of a deserted wood factory. He talks about his dreams and desires while questioning the universal injustice in people's life conditions.