Lesbos, an Island that Waits
| Subject: International Cooperation, International Relations
The documentary that premiered in September 2019 is now available online
On 25 September, the documentary Lesbos, an Island that Waits became available online, on the Televisió de Badalona website.
This documentary, previewed at the Girona cinemas in Barcelona last year, is now even more relevant than ever, as on 9 September, the Greek government declared a state of alert on the island of Lesbos following a fire in the Moria refugee camp, which left more than 12,000 refugees living in a provisional camp in highly complex conditions.
The everyday aspects of this complicated situation, particularly in terms of human rights, are perfectly reflected in the documentary.
Lesbos, an Island that Waits is directed Susana Soldado and Raúl López (from Televisió de Badalona), and produced by Badalona Comunicació, with the involvement of the AMB and in cooperation with the Greek NGO Lesvos Solidarity and the Barcelona Provincial Council.
Transformative projects involving the AMB
The aim of the documentary is to portray the daily life on the island of Lesbos in the years following the arrival of thousands of people fleeing conflicts around the Mediterranean. It features testimonies from refugees, inhabitants, local politicians and members of local and international NGOs. Based on these testimonies and images, the film shows how anger, hope, weariness, gratitude, bitterness and solidarity arise and merge in a society that has been reshaped by the arrival of thousands of refugees, and yet is capable of promoting transformative projects.
An example of these projects is the one that Lesvos Solidarity and the AMB have been developing since 2017. This programme involves recycling, producing and marketing products created from life jackets, boats and other elements that pile up on the island. Its objective is twofold: on the one hand, to recycle the large amount of debris found on the island and, on the other one, to provide refugees and the island's local residents the opportunity to work. The project also offers participants psycho-social and legal assistance.
Since 2015, the AMB has had a strong commitment to the Mediterranean, which has translated into the implementation of a specific cooperation policy for refugees. On the one hand, the AMB is supporting host countries in the eastern Mediterranean region (Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan), while, on the other hand, efforts are also being made in Syria, the country that represents the main source of refugees in the Mediterranean.
