Refugee kids experience FUNN magic of movies, photography
sharjah — FUNN establishment, a Sharjah-based organisation that promotes media arts among the youth, has provided children at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan with cinema screenings and held photography workshops for displaced persons.
The activity at the Zaatari Refugee Camp was designed as a humanitarian gesture from FUNN. Five screenings took place at the camp — two each for boys and girls, and one for women. A total of 800 children and 200 mothers attended the screenings. During each film session, FUNN representatives Mariam Al Mualla and Aisha Mohamed gave out gifts to the cinema-goers, including colouring books, crayons, popcorn and snacks for the children. Also attending the screenings were World Food Programme (WFP) Ambassadors Amal Dabbas and Nada Sharara.
The organisation also conducted a photography workshop for 10 children between the ages of 12-16, with the results to be displayed at Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF) 2017 which will begin in Octo- ber. FUNN gifted 11 cameras to the WFP to be used for future workshops at the camp, with the participating children also receiving certificates.
Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Af- fairs, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, and Director of FUNN and SICFF, said: “We felt it was important to provide mothers and children at the Zaatari camp with entertainment in the form of movie screenings and workshops that would act as a medium for the children to express themselves.
“The photography workshops were formulated to provide the youngsters with an opportunity to grow their skills, which they can benefit from as they grow older. Ultimately we aimed to show that these children and their parents are not forgotten.”