In 2017, American professor and filmmaker Isabella Alexander was on her way back to the USA from Africa when the Algerian government stopped her – she was detained for almost two weeks.
When she was finally released she returned home, only to immediately plan her trip back to Africa. The reason? She needed to finish a shoot for her documentary before returning to teaching at Emory University, and she was not about to to let anything – even the government – stop her.
Now, after more than two years documenting the lives of 3 families from Mali, Sierra Leone, and the DRC, who fled their war and poverty-ravaged home countries seeking refuge in Europe, Alexander is finally filming the last installment of THE BURNING: An Untold Story from the Other Side of the Migrant Crisis.
Alexander says her journey with these families has been nothing less than unexpected and their stories are still unfurling. “Some shoots will take me to the European cities where they’re building new lives. Some will take me to their home countries where they’re struggling to rebuild old ones,” says Alexander. “And some to the burial grounds where their bodies lay, the cells where they are trapped, and the camps where they remain, still hoping for a better tomorrow.” The film shows us the immense suffering these migrants endure to reach their destination, and the dreams they share. Whether abroad or at home in Atlanta, Alexander is helping refugees and migrants tell their stories. She even created a course at Emory called The New Americans Project. It’s centered around a student-led social media project that shares the stories of immigrant and refugee students on campus. “What’s unique about NAP is that it targets youth audiences to become active in the global issues of our time, showing us that these issues are a lot closer to home than we might at first imagine. You don’t have to travel halfway around the world to meet someone whose life has been impacted by migration – we can start by asking our neighbors if they have a story to tell.” Read our piece on NAP, then make a tax-deductible donation to The Burning can be made here. You can also host a screening. Feature photo: The Burning Instagram
