I’m based at General News Service programmes at London’s New Broadcasting House. We act as a bit of bridge between network BBC and local BBC TV and radio. Over the years I have worked on several outreach projects. In the early days it was partly to help develop my film-making skills while working on a project called Video Nation.
Now Video Nation has disbanded, it’s a great way of working on similar types of film which have the same ethos and intention behind them as the old Video Nation days. And of course it’s always been a good way of working with different communities and people outside the normal routine.
So, I often look out for current outreach schemes and applied for the “Inspire Simple Acts” project which was to film a refugee’s story from a positive perspective, with the aim of inspiring people recently arrived in the UK.
Caroline from BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility put me in touch with Sajda, who helped set up the Iraqi Women’s League when she arrived in London, and paired me up with James from the BBC in Southampton, an experienced cameraman who could help out. We were one of four teams working on this project.
After a few phone calls with Sajda to find out more about her background and story, James and I set off to her home way out west, near Heathrow. With this kind of film-making it’s usually not just a case of turning up, turning on the camera, getting what you need and leaving. You’re hoping to get quite a personal story.
So the best part of an afternoon was spent being fed rather nice savoury-filled vine leaves, meeting the family and looking through old photo albums. It turned out Sajda was a keen seamstress, a hobby she learned when back home in Iraq. We used that as a hook to get into the story of how she came to be in London and how her life has changed since her sister would teach her how to sew as a young girl in Iraq.
Sajda came to London with her husband when they decided to flee the regime in Iraq in the 80s.
She has two children who were both born here. She said it was very hard for her to be away from home at first but slowly she gained some confidence, learned the language and began to make friends. She’s keen to help other women from refugee communities who may be experiencing the sense of isolation she did in the early days.
The initial brief was to “create a short film, between one and three minutes, to tell the story of refugees to inspire action in others”. Hopefully Sajda’s story did this. I hope you like it.
See more films from this project at BBC Outreach YouTube Channel.
*BBC Outreach & Corporate Responsibility connects the BBC directly with its audiences, particularly those identified as harder to reach. Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre applied to the department’s Community Doorway programme, gives BBC staff an opportunity to work with various charities and community groups.
Applications are particularly welcome from organisations based in the neighbourhoods where a large number of our staff work - namely Salford, Greater Manchester and the two London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster - and those that work with 16-24 year olds and/or groups that are considered to be disadvantaged or socially excluded.
