At a glance
“Breathe Free” Drexel Theatre, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley 614-231-1050, www.drexel.net 7 p.m. Thursday $5 donation to Columbus Crossing Borders Columbus Crossing Borders director Laurie VanBalen, movie director Doug Swift, several of the refugees who appear in the movie chances of being welcomed into any country with open arms?”
VanBalen, a painter who operates an art studio in her Pataskala home, decided to create Columbus Crossing Borders, an art project to raise awareness of the plight of refugees.
“Not all immigrants are refugees; some people just choose to move here,” she said. “If you come over from England, you’re not a refugee. The refugees are fleeing war, persecution, terror — a number a different reasons.”
The project and the personal stories of five refugees living in central Ohio are chronicled in the movie “Breathe Free,” screening Thursday at the Drexel Theatre.
“It’s a compassionate outreach aimed at instigating critical thinking and understanding of the refugee community, said VanBalen, 63. “While our project is not political, it’s humanitarian; clearly, this is a hot topic right now.”
VanBalen recruited artists she knew to create Columbus Crossing Borders, an exhibit of 34 paintings that “crossed borders,” a metaphor for refugees crossing national borders. Each artist was assigned a spot in the exhibit and had to incorporate an element from the work that hangs to its left.
“You talk to your neighboring artist, and you figure it out,” she said, “because
isn’t that the metaphor of what we’re asking these neighboring countries to do?”
The exhibit, shown for one day in May at the Cultural Arts Center Downtown and for two weeks in June at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, can be seen from Aug. 28 through Sept. 2 at the Schumacher Gallery at Capital University and Oct. 7 at the United Church of Granville.
Late last year, VanBalen met with director Doug Swift, owner and creative director of Wild Iris Video, about creating a movie centered on the project.
“I was looking for something constructive and compassionate post-election, and I just like things with art and artists that have social relevance,” said Swift, 56, of Zanesville. “I thought it was a brilliant idea.”
Although VanBalen was focused on the art, Swift wanted to expand the film.
“The whole point of the
movie shows an attempt to feel compassion for refugees,” he said. “The only thing that would make it worth doing is to show both of the stories.”
Five refugees — two from Bhutan and one each from Iran, Somalia and Syria — talk about the horrific conditions in their homelands, the terror of the journey to another country and the squalor of refugee camps.
The last thing that Swift wanted was for the film to start political controversy.
“I didn’t want to engage anybody on an argumentative level,” he said. “For people who are predisposed, or at least open to it, I’m trying to engage with them on an emotional and intellectual level.
“I needed to be educated, I’ll say that. I needed to learn a lot.”
The film also touches on efforts to help refugees adapt to life in central Ohio, including the efforts of Community Refugee & Immigration Services.
Refugee Jhuma Acharya, a native of Bhutan, talks in the film about his work with other displaced people; seven Bexley families “adopted” the Al Sayah family to help them adapt to life in the United States.
“I heard these stories of these refugees, and it really affirms for me some sense of what it is to be American,” said Swift, whose family includes 20th-century immigrants. “I felt closer to my grandparents’ stories and my wife’s parents’ stories.”