Blogger Sarmad Iqbal talks with award-winning Filmmaker Salma Zulfiqar on her film “In Solidarity — The Migration Blanket”
In a world, where conflict and chaos has resulted in a large number of people leaving their country of origin for peaceful countries such as UK and Western Europe, there still remains hope for these people to resume their lives in a manner as normal as possible. There are refugees who are fleeing persecution, war and terror, it’s a long journey for them to resettle in their new homes and with political events such as Brexit and the COVID-19 crisis they now face new challenges. Much to their dismay they can find themselves also at the receiving end of discrimination once they start living in a new country. Discrimination, prejudice and bigotry hits them in the name of racism. Fleeing persecution just to face discrimination in another country can add to their traumatic experiences. Understanding and showing compassion for their tragedies is an ongoing campaign under the current political European climate on migration issues — but there remain a handful of individuals who stand for their rights, reaching out to them and championing tolerance in communities. UK based artist, human rights activist and film maker, Salma Zulfiqar (salmazulfiqar.com) is one of these great individuals making an impact through her creative work. She is using her art and film to empower the most vulnerable women and girls on the move. Her focus is on helping refugee and migrant women in particular. The Filmmaker’s recent film titled “In Solidarity — The Migration Blanket” shines a spotlight on what these women have been going through during the Covid-19 crisis by showcasing the artwork of different women. Following screening at several film festivals and winning accolades at events such as the Berlin Independent Film Festival 2021, the film will be screened now at Coventry City of Culture, UK from 14th of June, 2021. I sat down with Salma for a virtual conversation on her upcoming screening, the film itself and what her work is all about. We also talked on related topics such as racism and bigotry. I relished our conversation together and the video has been uploaded on my You Tube Channel Sarmad Iqbal (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWbhGH-VVogIh7n3ieHyftA ).