‘Dear Home Office’: short film + Q&A

Dear Home Office is a short film produced as part of Subject to Scrutiny, a collaborative project between Migration Mobilities Bristol, University of Bristol and Bristol Refugee Rights. Structured in the form of a letter, the film combines views and experiences of the asylum system expressed by asylum seekers and refugees who participated in the project.

The film was produced through a series of workshops and conversations with asylum seekers and refugees during the first lockdown in 2020. These conversations were developed into a script in the form of a letter that was then visualised, drawing inspiration from discussions and ideas emerging from the workshops.

The original aim of the research project was to find ways of moving beyond a familiar mode of representing asylum seekers that relies heavily on intrusive and traumatic experiences of forced migration and personal suffering, and instead to use filmmaking as a critical tool to scrutinise the UK asylum system itself.

This event will begin with a screening of Dear Home Office followed by a discussion with the filmmakers, project team and participants on the process that led to the final outcome. They will reflect back on the original objectives, the complex challenges of collaborative filmmaking with asylum seekers and refugees during a pandemic and the role of filmmaking in responding to restrictive migration and border policies.

Booking: Dear Home Office: Short Film + Q&A – info and ticket booking, Bristol | Watershed

Supported by Brigstow Institute.