FILM FOR HUMANITY KRAN Video Workshop - Kent Refugee Action Network Project This one day video workshop for the Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) ran on Saturday 28th April. The 10 workshop participants were largely KRAN Mentoring Project service-users: young asylum seekers and refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, Sudan and Turkey. Organised by documentary-filmmaker Joanne Ball, the workshop took place in Canterbury, Kent. It was taught by Elliot Manches and facilitated by Joanne Ball and Janine Lai. In the workshop the participants were given a hands-on introduction to video production. They were taken through the basic methods of video camera shooting, shown how to compose shots, and given a very simple introduction to aesthetics and cinematic language via interactive tasks and the use of projected film clips. The participants were then split into pairs and asked to pick out a 'theme' from a hat, from which they brainstormed for ideas, and produced a rough shooting script. Given a map with individual routes to follow around Canterbury, each pair left with one camera and one tape, to shoot material for 60 minutes. At the end of the day, the participants returned to watch their footage via a big screen projector, and commented on each other’s work. The footage is currently being edited by Joanne Ball for inclusion on a final DVD project for KRAN, and will appear here online in movie-clip format with participant comments shortly. Young asylum-seekers are possibly the most misrepresented group living in the UK today, so it is important for them to feel that they have a voice, which is as valid as anyone else’s. This project was a way for asylum seekers of different nationalities to mix with each other and young british people, which is essential for peaceful and effective social cohesion. Without the chance of legal employment or further education, most young asylum seekers are left to their own devices. This project provided a healthy and constructive alternative to exclusion, and a much-needed distraction from the anxiety many young refugees feel. “ Asylum-seekers are possibly the most misrepresented group in the UK, so it is important for them to feel they have a voice. This project provided a constructive alternative to exclusion, and a distraction from the anxiety many young refugees feel.”