Older news but exciting to complete the row, @RefugeProject played official selection at the legendary CamerImage Festival in Poland - with infinite gratitude to @JPSaner for capturing so many incredible moments so beautifully, and for giving so much of himself to this film. The journey continues. #CamerImage #RefugeProject (at Magna Carta)

More great news from an already great week, @RefugeProject just won BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival! Thanks to the jury there for their support of the project, REFUGE was made by a small team of artists who donated everything to make it possible - thanks to everyone for believing that stories can make a difference. @MagnaCarta.tv, @MaximilianGuen, @JPSaner, @RosannaBach, @Zevi_, @ElliotStudio, @stephen_michael_simon.mov #REFUGEProject (at Magna Carta)

Thanks for the love today @VIMEO | #RefugeProject x #StaffPick (Link in bio to watch the full film) (at Magna Carta)

REFUGE is now live online, worldwide. These stories are more important now than ever, and so if this film means something to you, if you learn something from this project, then help us share these stories. That’s how we start making a difference. | Watch it here: bit.ly/22quk5Q | #RefugeProject (at Magna Carta)

A video posted by MATTHEW K. FIRPO (@matthewkfirpo) on Dec 14, 2016 at 12:00pm PST

It’s my great honor today to share REFUGE with the world!

@TheRefugeProject is a short documentary chronicling human stories from the Syrian refugee crisis, focused on humanity and hope. Here’s a short excerpt from the film - with a link to the full film in my bio. Thank you all for your continued support! #RefugeProject (at Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece)

YARRA’S STORY | 39.1333° N, 26.5166° E // Settling in for the long dark, Yarra and her family of nearly 15 do their best to stay warm as temperatures drop across Europe. It’s one of those beautiful anomalies of youth that children can enjoy themselves even in dire situations - and indeed, Yarra even seemed to be having fun. Racing to collect anything that would burn in a crowded camp that had already been stripped bare, Yarra made survival a game, and in that, she was winning. Only moments after sharing her family’s fire, she offered us food we couldn’t accept, and asked us in excited, simple English, “Where are you from?” Compassion runs deep here in a people who would offer everything, when they have so little of their own. And even as we moved on through the camp late into the night, finding new stories and new faces, we would catch glimpses of Yarra, hurrying from campfire to campfire, like a dream. #RefugeProject (at Mória, Lesvos, Greece)

JAMEEL & TAGHRID | Eleonas Refugee Camp, Athens // Let’s leave a legacy of children and of friends, who did not let themselves succumb to fear, but made the world a better place with their kindness and their decency. Who stood on the right side of history. Who chose love. #REFUGEPROJECT (at Eleonas Refugee Camp)

GHOSON’S STORY | Leros Refugee Camp, Greece // Possessed of great strength and great sorrow, Ghoson was emblematic of so many of the people we met and stories we were told. That they had fled after great loss, that they had the highest hopes for their children, that they faced an uncertain future. But in the face of so much, there was the necessity for bravery, in both spirit and appearances, and even as Ghoson broke into tears describing the loss of her husband and the things she’d left behind - we knew that she would push forward for the daughter’s that had become her life, and the idea of what the future held for them all. My favorite moment from our interview, was a rare moment of laughter - I asked Ghoson what she wished for her daughters, Fatima and Bahia (left and right), she answered, laughing: “I hope they become doctors!” #REFUGEPROJECT (at Lero, Dhodhekanisos, Greece)

MAJIDAH’S STORY | Refuge Release // For a woman that has lost so much, Majidah has only hope. Hope for her two daughter’s, hope for a future in the West, hope for a home safe from bombs and killing. In our interview, she told the story of the day she lost her husband - the explosion that rocked their neighborhood, the friend that told them not to go outside. Majidah explained that they had planned to flee the city for months, and always found another reason to delay. “I always used to tell him that if we didn’t leave, his daughters and I would end up alone. And in the end, that’s exactly what happened. Now, we’re alone.” Majidah now makes the journey west with her two teenage daughters, her wishes for her homeland are simple. “I would pray for Syria to be safe, to be stable…but our Syria’s gone now. It doesn’t exist anymore.” REFUGE releases live online this WEDNESDAY, thank you for following along as we share these stories. #REFUGEPROJECT (at Magna Carta)

HAMAD’S STORY | Kara Tepe Camp, Lesvos // [REFUGE goes live online next week, join us as we share stories from the film] Possessed of a grace that transcended language, Hamad was a peaceful man of simple desires. Born with a degenerative muscle condition, he’d been wheelchair-bound for the last four years, but was still determined to find a better life, somewhere away from the bombs and death. Setting out on his own across countries and continents, he made it to Turkey, to Ismir on the coast. Given the choice between leaving his wheelchair, or being left behind, Hamad climbed aboard the rubber zodiak on his hands and knees, roped aboard in a life-jacket that wouldn’t have been enough to keep him afloat. After three hours of prayers and the hum of the engines, Hamad finally found himself lifted out of the boat, and onto European soil. Days later, he found himself in the Kara Tepe Center for Refugees, preparing for the next stage of the journey to Athens. And @TheIRC even managed to find him a new wheelchair. He said it wasn’t as nice as his old one, but he wasn’t picky. Hamad has embarked on the most difficult journey of his life, all for the distant hope, that abroad he’ll have a better one. He explained: “In Syria, I was nothing. I have so much to offer the world, I just need the chance to prove it.” #RefugeProject (at Magna Carta)

Meet Nina // She joined our team while shooting in Greece, not as a translator and definitely not as a camera operator, but as inspiration and energy. See her story and more in our upcoming release- the #RefugeProject | #MagnaCartaTV

Meet Sanah // This week we’ll be posting portraits of some of the people we met during our work on the #RefugeProject. The project will tell Sanah’s story and many more from those leaving their old lives behind to build a better future for themselves and their families. | #MagnaCartaTV

Waiting // Our #RefugeProject team stood at sunrise on the shores of Lesvos, Greece as boats bearing survivors and their stories began to appear on the horizon. | #MagnaCartaTV