Filmmaker Chris Temple and fellow producer Zach Ingrasci lived with 80,000 residents in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan to produce the documentary entitled "Salam Neighbor". The documentary, which translated means "Hello, Neighbor", depict the daily lives of Syrian refugees in the refugee camp.
To accurately describe the living conditions of the refugees, Temple felt that they had to live with the refuges in the camp, which they did. He and his partner Ingrasci spent a month with the refugees in the Za'atari refugee camp.
Both were nervous at the start, but soon felt at ease when their refugee neighbors started to meet with them in the camps. Stories from the beleaguered neighbors started to pour in.
One resident explained that there is a misconception about Arabs and Muslims as terrorists. On the contrary, he said that ''the population that's bearing the biggest burden and fear around terrorist attacks, are refugee populations, are Arab populations and Moslem populations in the region."
Another wrong notion is that the refugees are a big burden to the nations that will accept them as refugees. Some refugees are doctors, lawyers and nurses who can productively contribute to countries that will accept them.
The factor that can be a real burden is the fact that out of 4.8 million refugees, 75% are women and children. Interviews done by Temple were mostly at dinner time with his neighbors.
He said that most of the refugees "do not want permanent resettlement in other countries. They want to return home as soon as the war is over."
With this in mind, Temple hopes the documentary to convey the hope of refugees that western countries like the U.S. step up their humanitarian efforts and provide more assistance. They understand that they have to endure camp life until the war in Syria is over.
In general, Temple said that base on the camp stories he gathered, the residents at the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan have adjusted
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