Syrian refugee children in Lebanon act, direct,‘escape’

BEIRUT: “Three, two, one, action!” shouts Syrian refugee Mostafa Abdallah, 11, energetically directing his fellow child actors in a musical being filmed in a Palestinian camp in the Lebanese capital.

Members of the cast spring into action, belting out a chaotic but charming rendition of a traditional Arabic folk song about love and loss, accompanied by tambourines.

The musical is part of the Refugee Film Project, an initiative by international organization SB OverSeas that is helping Syrian refugee children in Lebanon write, direct and act in their own short movies.

Since Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011, its children have often been center stage in heartbreaking images capturing the brutality of the war or the tragedy of the ensuing refugee crisis.

But the Refugee Film Project aims to turn the camera around, giving young refugees the chance to shape their own stories — including from behind the camera.

Every day for six weeks, around 30 child actors gathered in front of the Bokra Ahla ( A Better Tomorrow) NGO, which provides education services in Shatila, a Palestinian camp in Beirut.

Mostafa said: “In the past, I used to film from my cellphone. But here, we learned how to film on camera — we learn a ton and have so much fun.”

A year and a half ago, he and his family fled the northern Syrian town of Manbij, held at the time by Daesh, and eventually made their way across the border into Lebanon.

Gangly Mostafa is a natural director, giv- ing firm commands to his peers.

“I hope that when I grow up I can be a real director and journalist, and I can teach children how to use a camera,” he says.

The project has already produced several films, including a horror story about three witches and “Betrayal in Beirut,” a six- minute tale of love, kidnapping and greed.

It is the brainchild of British teacher Aphra Evans, 24, and filmmaker Shyam Jones, 25, who work with the children to come up with storyboards and scripts.

“There’s always a Western lens looking at the kids, and we wanted to turn that around and have the kids in control of the photograph and in control of the video to change things a little bit,” said Evans.