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Okay.
You guys introducing Rose Massett.
She is the director, producer, and director of photography on a new documentary called refugee is not my name.
Uh, which I guess is still in production.
They're doing a fundraiser here at go fund me.com.
Welcome to the show, Rose.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
Thank you so much for having me.
Uh, very happy to have you here.
So, um, I guess our mutual friend, Jason Stapleton, uh, brought this work to my attention, said this was really important.
I saw the trailer that you guys are putting together here.
So, uh, why don't you tell us about the project?
That's awesome.
Um, yeah, so the project kind of came together last year.
Um, a group of about eight of us decided to go to Greece.
Um, you know, we had sort of seen a lot of, a lot of things in the news and in the media about the refugee crisis.
Um, you know, and there were, there were eight of us total.
And some of us went to, you know, we fundraised beforehand to go and help with NGOs over in Greece, and then some of us went to, uh, create a documentary.
Um, so that was sort of, you know, my driving force was the documentary.
Um, there was a small group of us and we interviewed refugees and, and volunteers from NGOs, uh, in three different parts of Greece in Lesbos, where a lot of the refugees have come in, um, from Turkey on the boat and landed in, landed in Greece, um, and then in Athens and then in Thessaloniki, Greece.
And so the film is, is really just sort of a collection of stories, um, from refugees about their experience, about, you know, their lives before, their journey coming from Turkey and then to Greece, to where they are now.
Um, sort of the situation now in Greece, um, and what their, their hopes for the future.
Um, and then it's also, you know, a collection of stories from volunteers, um, and what they're doing on the ground and, and what their organizations are doing and how they're trying to make it, uh, you know, a difference in the lives of, of these people.
Great.
And so, um, now where, how far along are you in producing the thing here?
So we've, we've shot it.
We're almost done with editing.
Um, our composer has just gotten started on crafting, you know, a wonderful score for us.
Um, so we're, we're in the final stretch where we're really, really close to where, yeah, we're fundraising right now to sort of help pay for, you know, the final editing process, um, and to help us get into film festivals so that we can, you know, we can enter into film festivals and hopefully, you know, keep it going.
Spread the word.
All right.
Well, it looks very interesting and I guess, can you tell us a little bit, go ahead and summarize a little bit of the stories of the refugees that you profile or pick your favorite couple or something?
Yeah.
You know, they were, they were all very different, but they were all sort of similar in the sense that a lot of these refugees have come from, you know, very comfortable lives.
Um, I don't think very different from, from you and I, and that they had, you know, a community and careers and families.
Um, and that was sort of just completely taken away from them, you know, for various reasons, and they were, they had no choice but to flee.
Where are they from?
A lot of the ones that we interviewed were from, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq.
And what's been going on in those countries?
Sorry.
Um, you know, I mean, Syria is in the middle of a civil war.
Um, and they're, you know, a lot of the larger cities are, you know, being bombed every day.
Um, there's, you know, ISIS has strongholds in, in a lot of their major cities.
And so they, they've been, they're, they're, you know, coming up against the face of, of violence and persecution for different reasons and, and they have no choice but, but to leave.
Yeah.
Um, I wonder if people really catch on.
I mean, I don't know how obvious you need to make this in your documentary, because it sounds like maybe it's kind of beyond the purview of the points that you're trying to make here, but these are all countries that have been destroyed by the United States of America.
That's what they are.
They're countries that we've been bombing in the case of Iraq, that we've been bombing for 27 years without stopping.
Yeah.
And so people say, oh man, we got these hordes of Muslims and darker, browner people from the South and East of here who are inundating the West and you have all this right-wing reaction against it.
And yet it's the very same people who are the right-wing reaction against it are the very same ones who cheered for George Bush and for that matter, for Barack Obama, when they escalated, you know, invaded and escalated all of these wars.
Right.
So I think what our documentary tries to do is sort of put a face to those people that, you know, this, like you said, this myriad of, of different colored people who, you know, don't speak our language, don't practice our religion necessarily.
I'm trying to just put a face to them and humanize them a little bit because they are, they have been victims in this situation.
So that, I mean, that's, that's what our documentary tries to do.
It just, it aims to just listen to their stories and just hear them and try to relate.
Well, it's a great title.
I mean, right there.
Refugee is not my name, right?
This is Dave from the town that the CIA set on fire.
He's a real person.
Right.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
And so now, um, you were saying there, there's a few different places in Greece that are just sort of the new refugee camp territories.
Yeah.
So Lesbos is sort of, Lesbos is the, is the island, um, one of the Asian islands where the majority of refugees who are coming, coming into Greece have landed.
So I think a lot of people have seen on the news, you know, the boats of people, um, crammed together and they're sailing, you know, across the ocean.
It's they're landing in on that small island of Lesbos and, you know, Lesbos, it's so tiny, it had like 80,000 people and over a million people have come through that island, you know, on their way to Greece and the rest of Europe.
Um, and so, yeah, Lesbos is, is, is one of the places there's a camp there, like a military government run camp that's sort of been described as almost a prison.
And a lot, a lot of refugees are sort of trapped in Lesbos right now.
And in the other Asian islands, um, the government isn't really allowing them to move on to Greece.
Um, the borders are, are sort of shut.
So it's, it's, they're, they're sort of stuck in this limbo.
Um, and then there's Athens, you know, refugees that have made it to Athens.
Um, again, there's, there are camps there.
There are, you know, there are people that are sort of set up there, but again, they're sort of stuck in this economic, you know, socioeconomic limbo where they can't, they can't really leave.
Um, a lot of them, a lot of them do, a lot of them try to, they try to, and they can't claim asylum in Greece.
Um, you know, Greece sort of opted out of that, you know, the EU, um, deal.
And then there's Thessaloniki, which is, um, you know, another area of Greece where, again, there's, we went to a camp there.
Um, and in all of these places that we went, we saw, we saw the camps, but we also saw the, the NGO organizations, them working, um, you know, hand in hand with refugees and what they're doing to sort of alleviate some of these, these things that they're, they're going through.
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So, I mean, I'm not sure how much of this is in the film or, or, uh, if you guys really concentrate on this angle, but is there much in the way of the politics and the agreements and the ideas, the different policies in play for what is to happen to these people?
Because we have seen sometimes, of course, obviously, you know, most prominently with the Palestinians, you have people who are just stuck in refugee camps for generations and aren't allowed to go anywhere.
We don't want to see that.
I mean, some, some, they've got to go one way or the other or something.
Right.
Yeah.
I know that's, that's the hope.
Um, and you know, the film doesn't really focus on the politics.
It's, it tries to sort of hone in on the individual stories.
Um, but no, you're, you're totally right.
They get stuck in these camps.
Um, unfortunately I actually just read that a lot of there, not a lot, but a small number of Syrians have tried to return home because there's just what they're faced with in these other countries and, you know, in terms of discrimination and harassment and.
You know, sort of in shame has sort of forced them to sort of retreat back to their, their home countries where there really isn't anything there either, but they have no other option.
So I just thought that was interesting.
Um, you know, that we, we think that maybe they're being taken care of in camps or, you know, with, you know, the government, but, but they're really not and they get, and they get stuck.
There's no, there's no life for them.
There's no way to work.
Um, they can't legally work or make money.
So we, we try to focus too, on the, what that happens mentally to a person when you're stuck in a place in a country that doesn't want you, you're faced with discrimination and harassment.
Um, and then you can't work, you can't, you know, feed your kids.
You don't, you don't have, you don't have any way to put your skills to use, to contribute to a community or society or an economy and, and, and what that does mentally to a person, you know, after having taken everything, having, having everything taken away from you, what, what that also does on top of it.
Um, well, what does that do to a person?
They're not allowed to apply their skills and be productive.
I think it, um, it affects their, their mental health in a way that it, it, it chips away and diminishes their humanity, um, and their dignity and their sense of self self worth.
I think, um, and then that just leads to, to unhappy people, you know, and we see, I think maybe we see an image of angry refugees, angry people, and it's like, well, why, why are they so angry?
You know, why, how did they get there?
And I don't know.
I think you have to, you have to sort of look at where they've been and, and the situation they're put in now.
It's, it's not like there's a ton of opportunity and they're just, you know, not taking the chances and not taking the opportunity.
I mean, they're, they're doing everything they can.
I've heard of these amazing stories of refugees, you know, opening up shops within refugee camps, you know, trying to create some sort of stability and economy within the camp.
Um, I think a lot, a lot of the governments like try to shut them down or, or have in the past, but they, you know, they try to persevere.
They try to do anything to sort of make them feel like contributing member of society.
Um, I think that's just, it's just human nature.
Uh, yeah.
So I'm sorry, I guess I know it's, I know it's outside of, uh, the, the show, as you said, but I mean, is anybody working on doing something?
I mean, cause this is basically, they're just being held in a concentration camp.
Uh, for now, as you say, they're not even allowed to set up their own little, uh, markets within that camp.
Um, and the Europeans, the, the EU itself and the various nation states of the EU, they've already made their decisions, but these guys are still in limbo, right?
So, uh, what's next?
Is there, um, you know, a plan?
Is anybody trying to implement a thing to even return them back to where they came from or any other thing?
You know, that's, that's a great question.
I think that is the ultimate question is like, what does the future look like?
Um, you know, like you said, the, the EU has sort of, yeah, they've, they've put a cap on it.
They, they don't want, you know, these migrants coming into their countries and trying to take over the economy or, or, or messing with, with that, but I think what we saw was, you know, these really small NGOs, you know, I think you have like the larger NGOs, you have the UNHCR, um, you know, save the children organizations like that, that are doing, trying to do something to alleviate stress on like a larger scale, you know, whether that's setting up camps or, um, you know, providing healthcare, but then on a smaller level, you have these, you know, individual groups of people going into those camps and, and, you know, trying to create spaces for people, um, to alleviate stress on like a deeper, on a deeper, more individualized level.
And that was one of the most amazing things that we saw was really small, small groups of people, but going into camps and, you know, they, they've set up libraries, they've set up schools.
They've set up, um, they've set up shops themselves.
They help, they work with the refugees to build, you know, creative spaces for where children can come in and feel safe, um, where women can go and feel safe and, um, outside of the camp.
And that was, that was one of the most incredible things that we saw.
It was just the work that's being done on a small level.
Um, but yeah, I mean, the larger questions of what's going to happen in the future, you know, in terms of, you know, the geopolitical politics of it is something that I think, I think is on everyone's mind.
I don't know if anyone knows right now.
And that's the frustration.
Well, I can't wait to see this film.
Uh, good luck with it.
I hope you guys are able to raise the money you need and get this thing out soon enough to get it in all your proper festivals and this and that kind of thing.
Uh, everybody, it's at a gofundme.com slash refugee is not my name.
Very easy, right?
Gofundme.com slash refugee is not my name to, uh, help support this very worthwhile piece of work here.
Thank you very much for your time on the show, Rose.
Thank you, Scott.
Good luck.
Thanks.
All right.
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Okay.
Thanks.
