"Making it Home" used poetry-based film-making to build bridges of shared experience, dialogue and integration between two very diverse groups of women across Scotland: women who are refugees supported by Maryhill Integration Network (Glasgow), and local women from Women Supporting Women in Pilton (Edinburgh).
The project grew from two of the Refugee Survival Trust's aims: to raise public awareness of issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers, and to help build greater integration and understanding between local Scottish people and those who have come from abroad seeking sanctuary.
Women from each of these two groups engaged in a series of parallel poetry discussion workshopsduring which they explored the same five poems linked by the theme of "Home" and unwrapped personal reactions to the poems and their themes, as coloured by their own life stories and heritage. These workshops were facilitated by professional poets and ran from October to December 2012.
Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, participants were able to create a total of four short films, based on the rich material gathered during the poetry workshops. Films were made under the guidance of professional participatory filmmakers Mediaco-op and were presented to the public in Glasgow and Edinburgh during Refugee Week (17-23 June) 2013.
Reactions to the films were universally positive. Accolades ranged from individual tears of emotion to being officially commended in the Scottish Parliament.
The Refugee Survival Trust invites you to follow this fascinating project which far exceeded initial aims and expectations. The journey has been one of learning and discovery, and we think that the films will delight with their intensity, beauty and unexpectedness.
We hope you will enjoy what you discover.
