Public screening at the Griffith Film Theater. Q&A with Dawn Chatty, Director of Oxford Refugee Studies Center, and Miriam Cooke, Duke Professor of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, to follow.

Part of an ongoing series for Arab Refugee Awareness Week

About the film:

“Not Who We Are” highlights the story of Syrian refugees who became displaced due to the brutal war in Syria. In early 2013, Syrians became the fourth largest refugee population in the world. Close to one million of those have taken refuge in Lebanon. More than eighty percent are women and children.

War and displacement acutely affect women in particular. They lose their homes, loved ones and possessions and often find themselves in unfriendly environments. Bereft of social support networks, they are vulnerable to discrimination, violence, and abuse.

“Not Who We Are” portrays the lives of five women refugees, from different socio-educational backgrounds. In Lebanon they struggle against life’s daily brutality and try to rebuild lives shattered by war. They provide us with a glimpse into their daily hardships as well as their strength, resilience and survival instinct.