Salam Neighbor

Salam Neighbor (Documentary Film)
Directed by	Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci
Produced by	Mohab Khattab, Salam Darwaza, Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple
Music by	W.G. Snuffy Walden and A. Patrick Rose
Cinematography	Sean Kusanagi
Edited by	Mohammed el Manasterly and Jennifer Tiexiera
Production company	Partnership: 1001 MEDIA and Living on One
Distributed by	Participant Media (Pivot), iTunes and Tugg
Running time	75 minutes
Country	USA and Jordan
Language	English, Arabic (with English subtitles)

Salam Neighbor is a documentary released in 2016 by the film production companies Living on One and 1001 MEDIA. The title means "hello" neighbor. The title has a dual meaning as the Arabic word "salam" also means "peace."

The film documents the experiences of American filmmakers Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple when they lived among 85,000 Syrians in Jordan's Za'atari refugee camp, which lies seven miles from the Syrian border. The filmmakers, who were the first allowed by the UN to register and set-up a tent inside a refugee camp, spent a month in Za'atari to cover what the UN Refugee Agency calls the world's most pressing humanitarian crisis.

Salam Neighbor is a component of a three part project focused on the Syrian refugee crisis: the documentary, a virtual reality (VR) film and a social impact campaign.

Salam Neighbor documentary

In Salam Neighbor, the filmmakers sought to understand the human side of the Syrian refugee crisis by living among the refugees. This immersive film style, combined with a social action campaign, reflects the strategy of Living on One, which was co-founded by Salam Neighbor's directors/producers Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci, and echoes their previous documentary, Living on One Dollar. The "East meets West" approach to humanize the Arab world reflects the strategy of the film's other producers Mohab Khattab and Salam Daraza, the co-founders of 1001 MEDIA.

Salam Neighbor concentrates on five Syrian refugees: Ghoussoon, a nurse who built a home business to provide for her children, Um Ali, a grandmother struggling to overcome personal loss and cultural barriers, Raouf, a street smart 10-year-old boy who hides his trauma beneath his smile, Ghassem, a 30-something relief worker who lost everything he built in his life and Ismail, a father finding his way after his college education was interrupted by the Syrian crisis. The film tells five stories among the 60 million refugee stories around the globe.

Salam Neighbor's depiction of the human elements of the Syrian refugee crisis has been recognized by political and humanitarian figures and organizations. Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan stated “What I love about this film is the resilience it reveals" and how it shows the Syrian refugees "have not abandoned hope.” U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) added that "On a subject too often discussed in terms of numbers, [Salam Neighbor] capture[s] the human element of one of the greatest refugee crises of this generation.” The International Rescue Committee stated "if this film brings greater awareness, understanding and compassion for the Syrians we work with every day, it will be, indeed, well worth our time."

In trying to depict the humanity of the crisis, Salam Neighbor seeks to reflect the reality of life in a refugee camp. The film provides its audience insights into the refugee crossing process, entry into Jordan, initial aid upon arrival (water, food, first aid and inoculations), arrival registration in the camp and setting up a tent and obtaining bedding, heaters and initial food rations. It is during the early scenes in the camp when the filmmakers first began to interact with their refugee neighbors, like Raouf. In telling the stories of their neighbors, the filmmakers also offered a look into how camp life affected the refugees, both good and bad. For example, grandmother Um Ali was shown to have created opportunity out of crisis by developing and selling her art and working for an NGO to support her husband for the first time. Salam Neighbor further addresses the logistics of running the Za'atari refugee camp, including through interviews of the then camp manager, Kilian Kleinschmidt, who discussed the entrepreneurial energy of the refugees when he said, "We were building a camp, they were building a city." That quote summarizes the strains between the goals and expertise of the NGOs in providing "first-aid" and the desires of the refugees to begin to recover and rebuild their lives. Another issue covered in the film is the role of host countries and how refugees are affected by the constraints host countries face with a large influx of people escaping war. Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls said "One [film] that ... I am now a big fan of- is 'Salam Neighbor' which ... is a poignant look at life in a refugee camp." The Refugee Sponsorship Forum added "I encourage you to see this eye-opening, candid account of life within a refugee camp."

Both The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company noted Salam Neighbor marks the first time UNHCR has allowed filmmakers to be registered and embedded in a refugee camp with a tent. NPR added “[Chris and Zach] don't just make documentaries. They make themselves part of the story.” According to Indiewire, the audience of "heart-wrenching" Salam Neighbor will “understand the Syrian refugee crisis like never before."

Members of the Salam Neighbor film team have elaborated on their approach to, as well as other aspects of, Salam Neighbor in various television and radio interviews. On Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, the directors described the story of 10-year old Raouf and the trauma he faced. On The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC radio, the directors chatted about four major characters in the film, the filmmakers' expectations entering the refugee camp, security issues in the camp, the urban refugee issue, the resettlement question and how the crisis is changing gender and cultural norms for the Syrian refugees. On the nationally syndicated The Mimi Geerges Show, the four producers covered the same issues as the Lopate interview, as well as the film's goals, the role of refugee camps, logistics in the refugee camp, the filmmakers' interactions with refugees in the camp, the entrepreneurship exhibited in the camp, host country issues, the role of more developed Arab nations in this crisis and the Living on One/1001 MEDIA partnership.

Salam Neighbor has screened through on-demand theatrical and community screening events.The community screenings included events for Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan at Georgetown University (opening remarks by Queen Rania and David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, the pre-event activities were live streamed), for UN dignitaries in New York City (opening remarks by US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power), in the US Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, DC (opening remarks by Congressman Ted Lieu), for Human Rights Watch in Los Angeles, for the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC and at Google and Facebook headquarters in California.

Virtual Reality Film (in partnership with RYOT and UN OCHA)

Although Salam Neighbor mostly covers Syrian refugees in the Za'atari camp, approximately 80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan are urban refugees; living outside of the camps. In order to cover the urban refugee situation, Salam Neighbor developed the virtual reality (VR) film For My Son in partnership with RYOT and UN OCHA. The film is a video letter from an urban Syrian refugee (living in East Amman, Jordan) to his son, expressing hope for his son's future. On March 15, 2016, it launched as a temporary exhibit at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. For My Son is also made available to audience members at some screenings of Salam Neighbor. The film can be viewed on the RYOT website and with the RYOT app (iPhones and Androids, including by use of VR headsets). It screened at the DocX section of the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Social impact campaign

Social impact campaigns seek to leverage media projects by converting public awareness of social issues and causes into engagement and action, largely by offering the audience a way to get involved. In June 2015, Variety wrote a story about how filmmakers are increasingly utilizing social impact campaigns with their films.

Salam Neighbor developed a social impact campaign in conjunction with the documentary. The American Film Institute (AFI) and NBCUniversal provided a grant to Salam Neighbor to support this campaign. The major themes of the film's impact campaign are supporting refugee host countries and educational opportunities for children affected by crisis (children that are refugees, displaced or whose education is affected by conflict). In the Variety article, Salam Neighbor co-director/producer Zach Ingrasci was quoted as saying “If we can mobilize that shift in the narrative to have real change in policy, that can have a huge effect ... The goal is to create a more sustainable and connected response for Syrian refugees.” The campaign is in marked contrast to negative Western perceptions of Syrian refugees, which partly reflect negative stereotypes of refugees, in general.

Salam Neighbor has partnered with Global Citizen, Creative Visions Foundation, Take Part and RYOT to increase awareness of issues related to the Syrian refugee crisis among policy makers and influencers (grass tops advocacy). On March 15, 2016, Global Citizen reached out to encourage world leaders to increase educational funding for children affected by crisis using clips from Salam Neighbor. Additional clips and characters from the film were also featured in a video with actress Salma Hayek Pinault (backed by 60 leading charities and campaigners and 250,000 petitioners from around the world) promoting the $4 billion Education Cannot Wait Fund that was launched at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. As the session wrapped up, foreign ministers and heads of state from around the world pledged a total of $90 million dollars to the fund, to help ensure displaced children like Raouf get the chance at education. In May 2016, US Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Judith Rowland of Global Citizen cited Salam Neighbor in an article they published on MSNBC, entitled "Syrian refugee crisis creates huge gap in education funding", to address this issue. NowThis posted on Facebook a Salam Neighbor video that was viewed over 1.9 million times and shared over 25,000 times in 14 days.

While creating awareness, Salam Neighbor also encourages grassroots advocacy for increased humanitarian funding and increased resettlement options for refugees around the world. The grassroots efforts include encouraging volunteerism in support of refugees. The US Government relies on a network of domestic organizations to make sure refugees arriving in the US have the resources they need to succeed. Salam Neighbor's website provides a link to volunteer opportunities with such resettlement organizations.

Salam Neighbor's social impact campaign partners are the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Save the Children. Salam Neighbor offers its audience the opportunity to donate to these impact partners. By the end of May 2016, over $87,000 had been raised.

The UN Refugee Agency said “Salam Neighbor ... delivers a powerful message. It will leave you touched and inspired to take action.” Carolyn Miles, the CEO of Save the Children, added the film pushes "the boundaries of how we tell stories and maximize social impact in the 21st century." Simon Frasier University stated "Every person who watches this film can play an active role in dispelling fear ... This is a story that encourages us not only to be global citizens, but global neighbours as well."

Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. said “This film is important … because it shatters the idea that there isn’t anything that one can do, that the problem is too big.” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) added “Salam Neighbor allows all of us that glimpse into the lives of the people fleeing the violence in Syria and what’s at stake if we fail to respond.”

Distribution

Theatrical Distribution: Salam Neighbor did not utilize a normal theatrical release. Instead, the film launched through on-demand theatrical and community screenings through Tugg.

Non-Theatrical Distribution: Salam Neighbor first launched on television in the US on January 20, 2016 on Participant Media’s cable channel, Pivot. When the film premiered, the New York Times listed it on its What to Watch list. Salam Neighbor launched on iTunes on May 6, 2016. Salam Neighbor was chosen for the 2016-17 American Film Showcase (AFS) for screenings sponsored by US embassies around the world as part of film festivals, special screenings and workshops. AFS is a film diplomacy program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is produced by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts (SCA).

Film festivals and related events

Salam Neighbor has screened at various film festivals, including as a spotlight screening at AFI-DOCS (2015, Washington DC), CPH:DOX (2015, Copenhagen, Denmark), where it was ranked among the best films, Washington West (2015, Washington, DC), WatchDocs (2015, Warsaw, Poland), Aruba International Film Festival (2015), Human Rights Watch Film Festival (2016, Los Angeles, CA) and Crossroads (2016, Graz, Austria). The film also screened at various events surrounding major film festivals, such as at SXSWedu (2016, Austin, TX) and the Student Screening Day at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (2016, Palm Springs, CA). For My Son screened at the DocX section of the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Awards and nominations

Salam Neighbor received the 2016 Media Award Honoring Voices of Courage & Conscience for a feature documentary from the US Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and was a finalist for the 2016 SIMA Awards for documentary features.

External links

• Official website
• Salam Neighbor at IMDb
• Salam Neighbor on Facebook
• Salam Neighbor on Twitter
• Official trailer for Salam Neighbor on YouTube