Waynak: Where Are You? tells six stories of collaboration between refugees, volunteers and host communities during the migrant crisis. From an Arabic and country music band in Istanbul, to a drama therapy group in Berlin and Beirut, Waynak demonstrates the many ways that people show compassion and unity in the face of adversity.
The series was produced over a period of 11 months and was directed by Chris Kousouros, a human rights worker who hopes to create positive change through his films.
What inspired your web series?
This web series was the product of a collaboration between What Took You So Long?, an international guerrilla filmmaking company and MakeSense, a global network of social entrepreneurs working to solve challenges related to the sustainable development goals. MakeSense approached us at What Took You So Long? and said they wanted to create content on positive solutions to the refugee project, and so Waynak was born.
Why did you choose web series as your format?
The web series had to reach a maximum amount of people within a specific demographic (global youth), in a way that was accessible and directly linked to the projects we were trying to push. Thus, MakeSense created an online platform where the series could live, which also connected viewers directly to projects happening near them.
What is unique about your series?
This web series was meant as an integral part of a larger global engagement campaign, to get people involved in the project of social entrepreneurs all over the world to help address the refugee ‘crisis’. It served as the centrepiece upon which this global engagement was built. It was not content for content’s sake, it was not meant to make people laugh or cry and then continue their lives unchanged. It was meant to inspire action.
Some stories that are told in your series are based on sensitive issues. Did you struggle to convince others to share their stories with you?
The current reputation of mainstream media among migrants, NGO workers, and international volunteers is completely void of trust or appreciation. People have been burned so many times by reporters and journalists that take advantage of misery for their next scoop, that it took us sometimes a month of living with our subjects before they trusted us enough to turn on our cameras. We made sure that we respected their wishes and concerns as a top priority, even if it meant cancelling a story or delaying a shoot.
In the first episode, you visited a refugee camp. Was it difficult to get camera crews in there?
We snuck cameras into countless refugee camps, sometimes it was a matter of discussion, sometimes arguing, most of the time we had to sneak in and hope for the best. We operated on a two-person crew, making it much less conspicuous.
What are the challenges you came across making your series and how did you overcome them?
Countless challenges, one was constant changing of the situation, making stories no longer relevant or available, we had to be very adaptable, very flexible, and keep our finger on the pulse of the situation, ready to change with it instead of sticking to our guns and insisting on a particular story.
Do you have any future plans for this series?
It will be shown at Doc Corner in Cannes May 20, and it will then be followed up with another series, and another, and we will continue our global campaign of engagement. The goal is constant content that inspires action, now we just need more funding.
What advice would you give to emerging creators?
When you are documenting things that are happening in real time, you have to have a controlling idea that you stick to, a general angle or goal that you keep coming back to. Don’t try and control the specific situation, be flexible and move with the situation, that is how you find out what the real story to tell is. At least that is how it went for us.
FOLLOW WAYNAK
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | VIMEO