From Zaatari Refugee Camp to Virtual Reality: How We Trained Syrian Teenagers in 360 Video
“When I first arrived at the camp, I didn’t care about anything,” said Marah.
“Then, I heard about a photography course. I started to make my own movies about life in the camp.”
Marah, 18 years old, is one of the seven Syrian teenagers who participated in our recent 360 video workshop in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. For a week in January, we trained and equipped young Syrian refugees to craft and film their first ever 360 videos, as part of our ongoing initiative My People, Our Stories, which places 360 storytelling tools in the hands of communities.
Our 360 documentary, 7 Stories for 7 Years, that compiles all of the Syrian teenagers’ stories, narrated by Game of Throne’s actor Liam Cunningham.
Since its establishment in 2012, Zaatari refugee camp, located in Jordan’s northeast, has become a sprawling city that houses around 80,000 Syrian refugees — 150,000 refugees at its peak.
Ages 15 to 18 years old, these seven Syrians have spent their teenage years in Zaatari, having fled from their homes early into the war that began in 2011, when they were still children. They’ve grown up under constant news coverage of their plight, but rarely have they been given the opportunity to share their own stories and shape the media narrative.
For these teenagers, it was clear that they had their own stories that they wanted to share.
On the first day of the workshop, before we dove into the tech of the camera, we explored different story ideas. Immediately, Marah knew that she wanted to film a story about her life in the camp, to take the viewer into her home with her husband and her 5 month old son.
Nisreen and Najat, who are best friends, wanted to explore the role of theater in their lives.
Obada, 16 years old, wanted to show the joys of playing football in the camp.
After the brainstorming session, we showed them how to use the 360 camera, running through various exercises to familiarize them with the new medium. Each teenager received their own 360 camera to keep, so they could continue capturing footage and developing their stories when they went home each day.
Every day, we would review the footage that was captured the previous day, discuss additional story elements that would be needed, and then break into different teams to continue filming.
Contrary to the narrative so commonly found in the media, these teenagers offered stories of resilience, hope and strength. Nisreen created a film about her disabled theater teacher, who she sees as a source of inspiration that uses theater to counteract the theme of suffering. Yousef decided to film his older brother who is achieving his dreams of opening his own barbershop.
By the end of the week, seven new 360 videos were born, with unique portraits of life that suggest a different a way of telling stories from within communities. By training a new group of young storytellers in VR filmmaking, we can see their perspectives come to life in an intimate and visceral medium.
After the workshop ended, our post production team put together the seven videos in the way that the teenagers had envisioned the final films.
The first 360 videos they ever directed, these Syrians were able to publish their work across the social pages and websites of Contrast VR, Al Jazeera English, AJ+, Al Jazeera Arabic, and World Vision pages. Their work was translated into over five languages.
The series was also launched at a private event in London, where key stakeholders from both Contrast VR and World Vision International attended. From Zaatari refugee camp to virtual reality headsets, the stories of these 7 young teenagers traveled a long way.
Originally published at medium.com on March 29, 2018 by @Joi Lee
