The island of all together

A short documentary of tourists and refugees chatting with each other about life while sitting on a little bench in the park or overlooking the sea of the Greek island Lesvos.

Every summer many European tourists travel to the Greek island Lesbos for a sunny holiday. In 2105 thousands of refugees crossed the sea from Turkey and arrived on the island as well, looking for a safe haven in the European Union.

Filmmakers Philip Brink and Marieke van der Velden invited tourists and refugees to talk one another about life while sitting on a little bench overlooking the sea.

The result is a short documentary with conversations of war, fleeing, home, work, love, but also cars and pets. It's an ode to humanism and shows what happens when we take time to sit down and talk with each other in stead of about each other. (23 min)

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Behind the scenes while making the documentary
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Behind the scenes while making the documentary

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Annemarijn and Birvan
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Annemarijn and Birvan

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Archie and Wissam
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Archie and Wissam

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Alaa and Finn
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Alaa and Finn

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Mohamed and Jan
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Mohamed and Jan

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Marcel and Hasan
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Marcel and Hasan

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Joana and Monique
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Joana and Monique

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Rashad and Otis
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Rashad and Otis

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Suhaila and Petra
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Suhaila and Petra

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Seet and Mayada
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Seet and Mayada

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Ghanem and Tillman
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Ghanem and Tillman

© Marieke Van Der Velden - Selma and Husam
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Selma and Husam

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