Ebrahim Documentary

Having 'arrived', so many refugees still sit and wait in the camps of Europe. They mourn the loss of family, the destruction of their homeland and the erosion of their identities. They grapple every day with the complex bureaucracy and the often hopeless realities of resettlement. A proud people reduced to the indignity of not being able to provide for themselves, whilst seeking shelter in a continent which they believed would welcome them, but whose growing populist politics inflame an anti-refugee sentiment that vilifies their very pursuit for safety.

'Ebrahim' is an immersive portrait of an 18 year old refugee trapped in such a reality. Separated from his mother and siblings in war-torn Syria and attempting to reach his father in Germany, Ebrahim carries a weight on his shoulders that no-one so young should have to bear.

15 months in the camp and facing indefinite detention, the camera quietly observes as melancholy, frustration and weariness begin to undermine the hope which motivated his fraught journey- that his family will one day reunite within the safety of Europe.

Living so close, yet feeling so removed from the refugee crisis in Europe, I was interested in documenting the situation in a more intimate way than the often alarmist, broad and dehumanising reports I'd see which were covering it.

Although I would hear so much about the situation in general, especially in the beginning, I never felt I got a sense of who the people were who were going through this ordeal or properly understood the profound decisions that these people were being forced to make.

The situation having moved predominantly away from the initial emergency phase, when the immediate danger was so apparent and 'newsworthy' (the perilous journeys people were making on boats etc), the situation seemed to get far less attention now that those headline grabbing events were happening less.

Surviving the journey to Europe is by no means the end of the story, but the beginning of a different, and no less pressing phase - one of great struggle and plagued by an existential uncertainty that is hard to imagine unless one is personally confronted by it.

Already pre-selected for a number of leading New Zealand film festivals, I am looking to raise the last $3000 of the film's budget to invest in post-production expenses so the film can be properly prepared for screening (having the film professionally sound mixed and creating the deliverables for film festivals). Any support you can offer the project would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Elliott McKee

Director Biography:

New-Zealand born but currently residing in Berlin, Elliott is an actor, touring musician and filmmaker. Focusing mainly on narrative short films and music videos for the first part of his career, he has recently moved toward documentary filmmaking of an immersive and cinematic nature. 'Ebrahim' will be Elliott's first documentary short.