The Bistro » Video

13.12.2010

Turntables in the Camps

A couple of month´s ago, i went to Lebanon to do a little documentary on a project called Turntables in the Camp. I will post a trailer for the documentary before x-mas.

Turntables in the Camps is a project focused on the inclusion of young refugees in the global youth culture of DJ-ing and the creation of electronic music. To facilitate this the project conducts workshops and sets up permanent local dj schools for refugee boys and girls in order to show that everybody can be a DJ or an MC no matter where they are from. Turntables in the Camps was made to spread the means for musical creativity, break down boundaries and to creating a window to the world for marginalized refugee youth.

We had 12 day´s in Lebanon and Jordan to take care of our mission. It was hard to plan much from home. One being the language and of all the restrictions there is with filming in Lebanon and especially in the camps. So the plan was to go there and take it one day at the time and try and get the best out of it. This is differently not the optimal way to go about making a documentary, but that´s the card i had on my hand.

I knew that i had to pack light and leave a lot of the equipment in Denmark, cause there would be situations where we had to smuggle the camera gear into the camps and when we then where in the camps i had to stay as low key as possible. So i packed a Canon 7D and a Canon 550D, a 16-35mm 2,8 and a 24-70mm 2,8 canon glass, a mono pod, a microport, a zoom h4n sound recorder, one tripod and a small dolly.

It was a lot of running and gunning and all way´s keeping an eye out for the military, cause there is one thing you don´t want to get caught doing and that is filming the military, especially in the camps. On top of all that there is stuff going on, that you don´t talk about and most definitely don´t film either. so all in all, you need to think before you pul the camera out of the bag. This makes the filming process a lot harder, cause normally you focus on story, picture and sound… so all in all it was a learning full process about filming in tight and tense area´s and allway´s having one eye open to spot problems before they happen.

It was a adventure and a experince i will never forget, i saw another side of the world that i have never seen with my own eye´s. I met a lot of really open and friendly people and i was invited in with open arms where ever i went, you got to give em props for that, they live under the worst condition, i almost think that animals have better right here in Denmark than they do, but still they where all very positive, invited you in, served coffee, food and drinks. It was a very positive experience to see and feel that even doe everything seems like you are at the end of the road, you can still be friendly, positive and spread good karma…

I really tried to understand the whole situation and find out why it had gone so wrong. But it is an endless story and it´s really hard to point your fingers at the bad guy. But one thing i do know is that these people live a really ruff life and most of them don´t have a future, if they don´t leave, but then again would you want to run away and leave your whole family behind and on top of that not knowing if you would end up in jail in another country. I really hope that someday, they will find peace and be able to live a free life without all the restrictions they are living under now. For me the hope of them returning to Palestine, does´t really seem to be realistic hope, unless a miracle happens and i do wish for this.

Facts :

Lebanon

Around 425,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with many living in the country’s 12 refugee camps.

Palestine refugees make up an estimated ten per cent of Lebanon, a small country which is now densely populated.

Palestine refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions. Palestine refugees are not formally citizens of another state, so they are not able to claim the same rights as other foreigners living and working in Lebanon.

Jordan

Around 1.9 million registered refugees live in Jordan.

All Palestine refugees in Jordan have full Jordanian citizenship with the exception of about 120,000 refugees originally from the Gaza Strip, which up to 1967 was administered by Egypt. They are eligible for temporary Jordanian passports, which do not entitle them to full citizenship rights such as the right to vote and employment with the government.  There are ten official and three unofficial camps, with other refugees living near the camps. They all live under similar socio-economic conditions.

There are ten official and three unofficial camps, with other refugees living near the camps. They all live under similar socio-economic conditions.

For more info please visit : http://www.turntablesinthecamps.org/

12.12.2010

Sailor Sunday and birthday..

Happy birthday Frank! Old blue eyes would have been 95 today….

Here he is on the town…..

05.11.2010

The History of the Boombox

Do you still have these boxes? I certainly do.

04.11.2010

Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon

This is my second visit to some of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. I’ve been thinking a lot what to write in this post, but i don’t know where to begin…. I guess some of the pictures will talk for them self……

See more photos in full scale here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondokkedal/sets/72157625181022188/

Check out the video, and please share this to help the story spread worldwide.

Turntables in the camps from simon weyhe

02.11.2010

Rock out with you cock out…

This is the 4th mix tape, from your host Tue Track on the wheels of stele. We will ensure you, that with this mix-tap. You will be in with the crowd!!! Have a sophisticated economy, south sea atmosphere, walk to Disneyland, continuous native entertainment in the lounge of seven pleasures, where good rum is immortalized and drinking is an art. No cover, no minimum, all credit cards accepted……………………………………………..

To see the previous mixtape…

ESCAPE TO PARADISE AND LIVE LIKE A LOVER!!!

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MIXTAPES AS MP3 FILES…

13.10.2010

Free the Robots!

This weekend I was lucky to meet this guy Chris from LA. He goes by the name Free the Robots and he’s pushing buttons like a mad man! He’s touring at the moment so if you have the chance, don’t sleep on this!

Here is the one shot I got at Train in Århus, Denmark.