Celebrating migrant friendships on International Migrants Day

Celebrating migrant friendships on International Migrants Day

Tuesday 18 December was International Migrants Day and this year we were celebrating migrant friendships.

Every year on this day, people around the world celebrate migrants and migration, often by hearing from migrants themselves.

This year at Migrant Voice, we decided to celebrate the connections and friendships created due to migration, since all our lives would be less enjoyable without those friends in them.

Some of our members in London, Glasgow and the West Midlands went on camera to talk about their migrant friendships…

Watch the full compilation video here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rkMdPYXpe8

Take a look at our YouTube channel here for more great #migrantfriend videos, go to our video page here, or click on the pictures below...

Here are some videos our members made in Glasgow...

Victoria Becker was one of the volunteers at the Migrant Media Lab in Glasgow where the videos were made. She wrote this about the event:

"On Friday 14 December, a group of 17 volunteers from the Glasgow Migrant Voice network came together for a special Media Lab at Maryhill Community Centre.

"Representing 11 countries – England, Scotland, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Belarus, Iran, Burundi, Cameroon and Mongolia – the workshop was a celebration of Glasgow’s diversity.

"Under the leadership of filmmaker and Migrant Voice community worker Amparo Fortuny and the filmmaker Alan McMaster of Phantom Power, the aim of the Lab was to create video clips to showcase Migrant Voice’s International Migrants Day campaign #migrantfriend and to celebrate the beautiful friendships that have been made because of migration to Scotland.

"In just two hours, the volunteers gained new skills in camera operation, audio recording and editing the raw footage in the best possible way: learning by doing.

"In small groups, questions were prepared and the participating migrant friends and their individual and inspiring stories were captured on film – and even partly edited!

"The Media Lab not only produced cinematic evidence that deep bonds of friendships come to life due to migration, but also served as a great way to get to know other Glaswegians – newly migrated or deeply rooted – and discuss, laugh and share the experience of creating a video together."

And you can see more interviews with Birmingham members here...