Syrian Refugee Documentary To Screen In North America

Reel Nation Media makes their newest 26 minute documentary, The Pursuit of Refuge, available for community screenings and fundraisers.

Syrian refugee children welcome their family members to America, who have just escaped war and refugee camps.

“An intimate portrait of a Syrian refugee father and his family building a life from zero in their new home, the United States of America.” This is the story of The Pursuit of Refuge, the newest film from Reel Nation Media and director Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz, shot during 2015-2017 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The film is now available, by request, to screen at local theaters, schools, and community and religious centers. Non-profit communities supporting and housing refugees will have the screening license waived.

In addition to the requested screenings, the filmmakers will host their own theatrical tour with a Q&A at theaters, universities, and community centers across the country. The Pursuit of Refuge will also be screening in select festivals, to be announced, during the fall and winter of 2018.

View the trailer embedded below and also available at: www.reelnationmedia.com/refuge

“The Pursuit of Refuge is a human journey that all embark on, no matter who they are. This short documentary is an intimate portrait of what it means to find happiness after you've lost everything.” – Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz, Director

“Lovely, well-crafted, sobering… (The Pursuit of Refuge is) an important entry into the recent canon of films on the refugee and displacement crisis. What I appreciate most is its overall unapologetic optimism. I breathed a little easier watching a story about people who are doing their best to work through the nonsense and brutal injustices to at least try to get to a better place in life.” – Steven Sean Garland, Actor (SAG-AFTRA & AEA)

Audiences, organizations, businesses, and others seeking to watch the film, submit a screening request, or learn more can visit the movie’s webpage at www.reelnationmedia.com/refuge. There they can also view the official trailer and subscribe via email or social media for news on future screenings, festival dates, and release dates on digital platforms.

Keep it Reel!

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ABOUT REEL NATION MEDIA

Reel Nation Media was founded in 2014 by Daniel Roy Bills, Lauren Houdek, and Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz. In a world of billion-dollar franchises, binge-watching, and junk, viral videos, they saw the lack of media art that was altogether authentic, fun, and healthy for audiences striving to be conscious and sincere with their media consumption. The motion-picture and art studio will have four feature-length documentaries, crafted to heal and inspire audiences, in its library by winter 2019. Learn more at www.reelnationmedia.com.

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Dead ED Isn't Dead 2! - The Unwanted Sequel

Well, well, well... have a lot of explaining to do, don't we?

"An Idea about appreciating each other after straying away, an idea about breaking free. That idea is Dead ED," said a year younger me, in an embarrassing video released to Kickstarter backers, as I was figuring out how to explain what the hell happened to the, then three-years-old, now four-years-old, Kickstarter film. Now I am trying to figure out how to explain what the hell happened, once again.

Failure is what happened, ladies and gentlemen. Here is last year's video:

Written Recap:

In the video we apologized, went through how our team split up, and how life threw us to the curb. To me watching the video is almost unbearable, and like wanting to punch my little brother in the face, repeatedly. Looking at your old self is... weird. Then we discussed the startup of this production company, Reel Nation Media. We then explained how our obligations to our backers would not change, and it still hasn't. You also got to see a short but sweet unfinished scene of the film where our heroes were turning against each other as they were trapped with little hope of escape. Next we promised to still commit to the Kickstarter rewards, finish the film, and to introduce a new lifetime rewards system which promised the backers equivalent rewards for every film in the future (this will still hold true). We then promised monthly updates... yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Didn't happen. You'll see why- but something gives me hope at the end of the video. "Dead ED shows that it's never too late to set things right. That is what this journey is about."

Nothing could be more true.

So here we are, trying to set things right.

In the year since that video, a lot has happened: We finished our first feature documentary film, Stand Up, but could not get to distribution until August 2016 because of some novice failures related to the film. We also had to shut down our office because our steady stream of income from short documentary was eliminated when Al Jazeera America decided to abort mission for good. By that time, we had started an Al Jazeera short documentary that we were commissioned for. Even though we could have dropped it we felt that our responsibilities to the subjects demanded more time, which turned into our newest film, Refuge. So we had to start spending more of what we didn't have to keep that project alive. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, a lethal illness affected a family member, which had to result in a split of the team once again... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

This is me working with AlJazeera. I was an assistant to the famous John Ware from the BBC's Panorama. I'm going to really miss that.

No worries, everything is fine now, that person was a champion and is making it out, and we're actually doing pretty well. Stand Up is on its way to theaters while Refuge is almost done with production. Dead ED is the project that had to wait because the lack of time and resources. Hopefully it can bring this Nation back together again.

Here are the trailers for "Stand Up" and "Refuge".

Our plan is to finish what's on our plate, including Dead ED, by March 2017, and to deliver all original Kickstarter and lifetime rewards for all projects. Then we hope to start anew. I will be making a video to explain more, but I just needed to get this out while I had 20 minutes of spare time. Thanks for your patience this whole time, guys. I feel like I could not be any more in the wrong. Hopefully you'll give me another shot!

For Dead ED Kickstarter backers, please get ahold of me at RNM@reelnationmedia.com for concerns or complaints so that I may address them with full commitment.

Expect more frequent updates.

Keep it Reel.

#DeadED #Kickstarter #ReelNationMedia #StandUp #Refugee #Feature #Documentary #AlJazeeraAmerica #Hope #Updates #DeadEDisn39tDead #JohnWare

How do Syrian Refugees Live in the USA? - Introduction

So how do Syrian Refugees live in the USA? Well that is the exact question I asked when I learned a year ago that Allentown PA, a town near me, was accepting Syrian Refugees into its community. The issue is now a hot topic with all the elections and debates going on in the popular media. Some will say "yes accept them with open arms!" Others will say "no, they're a danger to our communities. Some may be associated with terrorism. Look at what happened to Europe." My opinion fell somewhere in the middle, but, of course like most people, I was ignorant.

What is the true effect of these families settling in my home, the USA? How does the USA effect and change them? What is the true story and motivations behind these families? And most importantly, how do they relate to us?

I was told by a wise teacher that you will never truly know a people until you sit down with their children at their dinner table/mat. To answer my questions, I aimed to do just that, and film it.

My film Refuge seeks to answer the questions above. For the next few weeks, I will relate the story of my filming and beautiful experience of getting to know a lovely family that I learned to call my own. This blog series (hopefully to become a video series) will explore this journey step by step. I hope you join me by signing up at www.reelnationmedia.com/refuge. As I edit and film the last few sequences, you will be able to get an exclusive insight and even contribution to the creation of my film: the answer of How do refugees live in the USA?

Have you seen the teaser trailer for the film? Watch below!

Please feel free to comment below on what you'd like to see and if you have any ideas on how we can better go through this journey together. Looking forward to it guys!

Keep it Reel!

Abdullah Abu-Mahfouz

#SyrianRefuge #Syrian #Announcement #AbdullahAbuMahfouz #Refugee #ReelNationMedia #Trailer #Blog #VideoSeries #USA