Welcome to Canada from Go Project Films on Vimeo.
This short film tells the story of Mohammed Alsaleh, a young Syrian refugee granted asylum in Canada in 2014. After fleeing torture and imprisonment by the Assad regime, he is rebuilding his life. Mohammed counsels newly-arrived Syrian refugee families with the same Vancouver-based NGO that aided him during his own resettlement process. Like Mohammed, these families have left loved ones behind and are struggling to adapt to a new land, finding resilience and hope for a new beginning.
The film is accompanied by a supporting lesson plan, A Refugees Story that helps teachers explore the issues raised by the film.
The video provides an opportunity to strengthen those skills associated with critical evaluation of films. What is the main message of the film? What techniques are employed to gain the viewers interest and/or support for that message? What is left out of the film? Why?
The Great Migration currently occurring around the globe is one of the great issues of the day and one that students should explore. The recent immigration of Syrian refugees to Canada is one chapter in that story.
A number of powerful images has had the affect of raising awareness of and empathy for the plight of these refugees. The story approach adopted by the video is also effective as it serves to personalize the tragedy unfolding and may encourage teachers and students to delve further into the causes and effects of this mass migration. Should they decide to delve further, the supporting resources included in the accompanying lesson plan would be helpful.
The film should be used to introduce students to the current issue of mass migration.Teachers should follow the viewing of the video with further lessons designed to investigate the reasons for and the consequences of this migration.
Given that the people on the move are either environmental refugees, economic refugees, human rights refugees or a combination of these, the video will be particularly relevant to World Issues and Global Issues courses as well as Geography and other courses that integrate issues of sustainable development from a global perspective.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.