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Exodus film festival shows movie inspired by refugee’s troubles

30/ 5/2008

A MANCHESTER art director’s first fiction film inspired by the troubles of a refugee from Sierra Leone will be shown at the Exodus Shorts Refugee Film Festival in Manchester and Liverpool.

Sami Khan, art director on the Channel 4 comedy Fonejacker and Peter Kay’s forthcoming comedy, wrote and directed the short film How Life Happens.

He had the idea for the film after helping a Sierra Leonean refugee his uncle met at a mosque who had no money and nowhere to stay.

It tells the story of an African boy Kosey who is thrust into an uncertain future in the UK after his father is taken by militia.

Sami, 32, who lives in Withington, said: "I wanted to show how hard life is for people who are fleeing oppression and trying to start a new life.

"We are sometimes in danger of losing our humanity amongst all the negative press around refugees."

Sami, a British Asian who has set up Dark Matter Films, filmed How Life Happens last year in south Manchester with a £3,000 budget from North West Vision and Media.

He is now developing a second script with North West Vision and Media and is working on an idea for a feature film.

How Life Happens will be shown at the Cornerhouse in Manchester on Wednesday, June 18 and at the Picturehouse at FACT in Liverpool on Thursday June 19.

Sami will also take part in a Meet the Filmmakers panel discussion at the Cornerhouse on Wednesday, June 18.

For more information on Exodus Shorts see http://www.can.uk.com/exodus/.