Chasing the Stars is a web documentary project consisting of three episodes which describe the journey and the conditions of migrants trying to reach Europe from war-torn territories.

We are film makers from CroMA - Cross Media Action (Rome, Italy), and with the support of Young Researches of Serbia, the Audiovisual Archive of Democratic and Labour Movement and other civil society organisations all over Europe we want to tell you about the life of people who, despite the wait, the fear, and the hope or the improbability of leaving, try to organise, to meet and to plan new possible itineraries beyond those drawn on the maps. We want as many of us as possible to be aware of the reality of migrants from war-torn,countries, to put ourselves in their shoes only to remember that we are all drops in the same ocean and that we can do something about it – at least tell their story without prejudice. 

The Basmane episode

Our story begins in Izmir (Turkey), where hundreds of thousands of migrants, mostly Syrians, are trying to resist following the EU-Turkey deal. Most of them stop in Basmane, the historical centre of the city where they try to rebuild a new life. It's here that we met Hasan, who had escaped from Aleppo four years ago; Alì, a 23-years old who wants to reach his girlfriend in Germany; Nour, a Palestinian refugee in her twenties and all those people who are trying to build their own future, staying together and connecting to one another. Here in Basmane a group of Turkish, Kurdish, Syrian and international activists and volunteers launched "Kapılar" (The Doors), an open space for the community that seeks to contrast the conditions of extreme vulnerability to which the migrants are exposed.

Their struggle is our struggle and their hope is our hope.

We are going to release The Basmane episode in January 2017, just after the end of the crowdfunding campaign. However, two more episodes are waiting upon funds in order to be filmed. They depend on your participation too.

The second episode shows the arrival over the EU border: the first impact with Europe, the institutional control, the resistance, the determination to organise the crossing of other borders, other barriers, both physical and personal, in order to reach their goals. 

The final episode depicts the arrival at their destination, a new life, the dynamics of integration or exclusion, the relationship with their past, their country, relatives and friends left behind. 

Support our project and help us to transform your participation into an act of freedom.

Because Chasing the Stars depends on us, all of us, and on those who transform participation into an act of freedom.