New Documentary Sheds Light on the Hard Lives of Iranian Refugees in Turkey

Farzad Khoshdast explores the difficult lives of Iranian refugees in his new documentary film titled "Third Land." The movie is screening at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival. It follows an Iranian engineer named Hamid, his wife Hananeh, and their son as they live in Turkey. Their refugee status is recognized by international groups, but they do not have legal residence. This leaves them stuck in a permanent state of limbo.

Making the Film

Khoshdast met Hamid and his family about four years ago while traveling in Turkey with his wife. Hamid asked the director to tell his story after hearing about the harm Khoshdast faced from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Gaining the family's trust took nearly two years across three separate periods. The director used footage from these three periods as the first three episodes of the film to make events look like they happened over just a couple of days. Hamid left a promising career in Iran after realizing his skills were being used for the country's missile system. If he had stayed and worked on missile launchers, he would be wealthy today. Instead, he struggles with work permits, works under the table, and cannot even open a bank account.

Risks and Danger

Making the movie involved high risks and fear. Khoshdast and his crew were detained two or three times during production. The most serious incident happened in Ankara after a terrorist attack, when officers came to Hamid's home to detain the director. Friends stepped in and promised Khoshdast would report to the police station the next day. On another occasion, a local citizen falsely reported that the crew was filming President Erdogan's home. Khoshdast spent all his savings to produce the film and now cannot return to Iran due to security risks. The director estimates that as many as half a million Iranians have been forced to flee their home country.

Context

Documentary filmmakers often spend years building trust with marginalized subjects to capture authentic real-life struggles. Turkey hosts a large number of refugees from neighboring countries due to its geographic position as a bridge between the Middle East and Europe. Many refugees face administrative hurdles like delayed work permits and restricted access to banking services while awaiting permanent resettlement.