Background
In 2015, Germany led Europe in welcoming a million refugees to enter a new era of political upheaval and controversy.
As a reaction, some Germans have voted into political power the alternative-right party AFD. Since the arrival of refugees for at least 2 years, there have been over 500 unexplained arsons that have destroyed refugee shelters.
German government-authorized Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (Worker’s Samaritan Federation) houses refugees in their shelters around the country, and one of these is in Berlin. Food, shelter and everything else, including money supports families stripped of everything to start a new life in the midst of social and political challenges.
In the middle of the shoot, this filmmaker lost contact with everyone, including Kirstin, house manager, when she went on maternity leave and left her employment. When the filmmaker returned to NYC, the shelter suddenly shut down and all the families were either expelled or given asylum.
Budget
The budget was about $10,000. Partial funding came from one PSC-CUNY Research Grant and one Leonard & Tow Travel Grant. This filmmaker supplied his own gear and reused his own production and post-production equipment valued at over $25,000 that was donated for this film. This filmmaker does not profit from this production and all funding was used to pay for the professional talents and skills of post-production crew members.
Sustainability Statement
All aspects of filming and production were conscientiously taken to reduce consumption of energy, reduce waste and reduce emissions in making this film.
- Zero-emissions from transportation; this filmmaker used his bike for traveling within Berlin while he lived there from 2015 to 2021. International travel made from Berlin to Brooklyn was not related to this production (this filmmaker moved back to NYC after COVID).
- Zero-emissions from energy consumption in terms of electrical supply for production and post-production; this filmmaker used rechargeable batteries and all energy supplied was from alternative and renewable energy power like solar and wind suppliers in Berlin and in Brooklyn.
- Zero-plastic use; there were no plastic bottles or forks or packaging materials used so there was zero waste generated from the production or post-production process.
- Zero-materials use; there was no aluminum or other materials used in food consumption during the production or post-production because all food sources were locally, organically acquired or prepared.