District Zero - the stories inside refugees’ smartphones (14 April, Belfast Film Festival) #bff16

District Zero tells the story of daily life of a tiny mobile phone shop in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, the second largest in the world. The phone memory cards of Maamun’s customers contain their past in Syria – happiness, routine, family life – before the war came, followed by destruction, fear and flight.

Maamun rebuilds photos and sound, recovers lost content, recharges batteries, and restores the only link his neighbours still have with Syria. And together with his friend Karim, they print off the photos which have filled up the mobile phones of the people who live in Za’atari.

On Thursday 11 April, District Zero will be screened as part of The Better World Film Fringe at Belfast Film Festival at 7pm in The MAC by the Coalition for Aid Development Agencies (CADA). Tickets £5.

After this UK and Irish première, I’ll be hosting a short panel discussion on the situation in Syria and its human impact with

• Ahmad Alissa (a refugee from Syria living in Belfast)
• Colm Byrne (Oxfam Humanitarian Manager)
• Prof Monica McWilliams (Womens Studies at UU Transitional Justice Institute).

District Zero is part of the EUsaveLIVES - You Save Lives campaign by Oxfam and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) to raise awareness on the lives of almost 60 million refugees and displaced people worldwide and the vitally important role humanitarian aid has in their lives.