Calgary filmmakers crowdfunding to finish film on newcomer integration

The two women behind a documentary that tells the stories of refugees in their own words are hoping to raise the money they needs to make it a reality.

Rahat Zaidi, a research professor at the University of Calgary's Werklund School of Education, and filmmaker Nina Sudra wanted to highlight the many barriers families face after arriving to start new lives in Canada and how newcomer families can fall between the cracks of the educational system.

Their documentary, called Bridging The Gap, is designed to be an educational resource that the pair hopes will one day be used by school boards across Canada and around the world.

"We don't hear first-hand accounts from parents coming from different parts of the world that really articulate what their dreams and aspirations are, and what their ambitions are for their children," said Zaidi.

There are more than 82.4 million people worldwide that have been forcibly displaced with around 51,000 refugees and protected persons coming to Canada in 2021, according to Zaidi.

They hope the project will help build relationships and more understanding between resettled families and schools and universities.

"We don't hear enough about the nature of their challenges and neither do we as a host society understand enough of the gaps and the work required to get these families from coming here to settling in and integrating into mainstream society," Zaidi said.

It's hoped the documentary can also offer some recommendations for teachers, settlement workers and policy makers that stem from the overarching idea that differences in people can present opportunities as well as challenges.

Filmmaker Nina Sudra's father came to Calgary as a refugee from Uganda. She says she watched her own parents struggle to navigate their new life here, and that she knew at a young age she wanted to tell stories about the unique experience she grew up with.

"The biggest challenge is keeping a balance of positive and negative experiences," said Sudra.

"Both exist and it's about how to tell a story in a compelling and entertaining way that's going to keep the viewer engaged and hopefully start to make them think and ask questions and create conversations."

Sudra says a big piece of the film is having participating families tell their own stories from their own perspectives.

Zaidi and Sudra want to expand on what they've achieved so far and create a much more comprehensive film, which comes at an additional cost.

"Films are big budget projects. We would like people to donate with the idea that once it's released it will improve the lives of people coming into Canada as well as giving teachers and schools an insiders lens into what these families would like the world to know about their experiences and their stories of resilience," she said.

The documentary has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada. Zaidi says she wants to match the $25,000 in funding to get the film to where they'd like it to be. 

A crowdfunding effort is now underway through the University of Calgary to raise the money they need to make it happen, and has already raised nearly $7,000.