-Hi, I'm -Eric Ford for Made Here.

-Director Eric Bass from -Sandglass Theater in Putney, -along with filmmaker -Willow O'Feral.

-Bring us the film stage -performance -!Babylon: Journeys of Refugees.

-Using narrative inspired by -living testimony of refugees -and asylum seekers -from the Middle East, -Europe and Africa, Babylon -is masterfully staged with -intricate puppets, movements -and theatrical design.

-You can watch Babylon -and other great Made Here -!films streaming on our website -and through the PBS app.

-Enjoy the -film and thanks for watching.

-(calm music) -Pop quiz, -which of us has cousins -that live in another country?

-Which one of us -was recently arrested?

-Which of us was -raised bilingual?

-Trilingual.

-Which of us has -a master's degree?

-Which one of us spends -part of each summer in Maine?

-Which of us went -to catholic school?

-Which one of us works in -the Middle East every year?

-Whose family has been in -the country the longest?

-Which of us has been mistaken -for being a -different nationality?

-Visas and immigration.

-Please hold.

-Wait until I transfer you.

-While you wait, -would you like to complete -a five minute survey?

Hello?

-I hear that we American -artists now need to fill out -!a work permit to perform abroad.

-Oh yes, you can help me.

-I'm filling out the -online work application -and I have a question -about caterpillar five.

-I'm sorry, category five.

-You see the question -asks for the exact dates -of exit and reentry -into my country -for every trip I've taken -for the past five years.

-Do I really have to do this?

-Yes, I have a passport.

-Am I a what?

A Migrant?

-You think I come from -Syria or something?

-What may be if we go back -a couple thousand years -I do come from Syria.

-!You know, the Fertile Crescent, -Babylon, what's now Iraq.

-!No, my family is not from Syria.

-(speaks in foreign language) -I'm from Texas.

-Look, -I'm only going -abroad for a week.

-That makes me a migrant?

-One week is a migrant?

-A migrant?

Me?

-(calm music) -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -!♪ Do you leave a life behind ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -♪ Do you walk through -the borders of time ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -!♪ Do you leave a life behind ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -(dramatic music) -Hey.

-(dramatic music) -(speaker grunts) -(dramatic music) -(speakers vocalizing) -(speaker gasping) -[Lady] Good morning.

-Please look at the camera.

-Who are your -relatives in this country?

-Who are you -planning to stay with?

-Any other family members -accompanying you?

-If your documents are lost, -do you have photographs -of lost documents?

-What country are you from?

-Are you a communist?

-Have you come to -overthrow our government?

-Are you a Muslim?

-Are you or have you ever been -a member of the Nazi party?

-Do you speak English?

-[Man] Washington, DC.

-The language in -the mountain region -!of Central Afghanistan is Dari.

-In Dari, the word for mother -is (speaking in Dari).

-My homeland is my mother.

-(speaks in Dari) -The word for flower -is (speaking in Dari).

-The word for bread -is (speaking in Dari).

-[Man] Breadwinner -is (speaking in Dari).

-The word for water -is (speaking in Dari).

-The word for rosewater -is (speaking in Dari).

-Home is (speaking in Dari).

-Aroma is.

-(speaking in Dari) -(speakers giggling) -The word for mountain -is (speaking in Dari).

-Snow is (speaking in Dari).

-Snowball fight -(speaking in Dari).

-(speaking in Dari) -Children.

-The word for beautiful -is (speaking in Dari).

-Or (speaking in Dari).

-Or (speaking in Dari) -!Religious students is Taliban.

-♪ A breathless voice -pulls her from sleep ♪ -♪ Get up now from -your midnight bag ♪ -♪ 'Cause the mountain -snow is five feet deep ♪ -♪ And 50 pounds -of flour on her head ♪ -♪ Take something quick ♪ -♪ The rest you lose ♪ -♪ How can the -children still be fed ♪ -♪ And how long must -we wait for news ♪ -♪ With 50 pounds -of flour on her head ♪ -(speakers humming) -(crowd shouting) -(guns firing) -(speaker gasps) -(speakers humming) -♪ But where did -all my brothers go ♪ -♪ For hours and hours ♪ -♪ Thousands fled ♪ -♪ She left them 14 days ago ♪ -♪ With 50 pounds -of flour on her head ♪ -♪ Do not return ♪ -♪ Was our advice ♪ -!♪ No elder heeded what we said ♪ -♪ She went and fled ♪ -♪ Not once but twice ♪ -♪ With 50 pounds -of flour on her head ♪ -(speakers humming) -Men shot.

Shot.

In Handcuffs.

Women raped.

-[Man] The dark and -anguished village bled.

Bled.

Bled.

-[Man] She saw a child die.

-[Man] Die.

Die.

Eyes agape.

-♪ And still she held -that flower on her head ♪ -(speakers humming) -[Blonde Man] Mosque.

Mosque.

-Mosque.

-[Blonde Man] Had -barely room to kneel.

-!

[All Men] Barely room to kneel.

-!

[Blonde Man] But they gave her.

-[All Men] Tea and -gracious bread.

-(speaking in Dari) -[Blonde Man] In and out.

-In and out.

She didn't fill.

-♪ The empty bag -of flour on her head, -♪ -♪ In time the flour's -weight was shed ♪ -♪ Her children -saved but torn apart ♪ -♪ She kept them moving -and kept them fed ♪ -♪ Her thousand pounds -of sorrow in her heart ♪ -(speakers humming) -Her child walked in -his brother's shoes.

-A man was missing maybe dead.

-♪ And every word -we sing is true ♪ -[Man] Yes.

-♪ 50 pounds of -flour on her head.

♪ -(crowd talking indistinctly) -[Man] She should thank -God for being alive.

-She's lucky to be here.

-She must be so grateful.

-[Man] Grateful, -are you her savior?

-She just lost her home, -!everything she loves and know.

-!

[Lady] Her home is torn apart.

-Have you seen the -Khyber Mountain Range?

What?

-[Lady] It's beautiful.

-[Man] What must it be like -not to understand any of -the songs on the radio.

-[Lady] She doesn't have -to abandon her identity -in exchange for being here.

But there are a million others -who would give anything -to be here in her place -for a shot at America.

-[All speakers] Shh!

-[Lady] she should feel lucky, -humble even she has the -!opportunity to be somebody new.

-But should she -trade the rosewater -in her pastries for vanilla?

-[Man] Does she have -to prove herself worthy -as a contribution -to our society?

-That she's a good bet?

-Does it make any difference -if she were grateful?

Yes.

-[All speakers] Shh.

-[Man] No, she doesn't -have to atone for her need.

-[Man] You're not enough -until you're too much.

-[Lady] It's our -obligation to open the door -!when someone in danger knocks.

-[Man] But will you?

-Will you open your own door?

-[Man] A person's life -is never a bad investment.

-!I imagine my house is on fire.

I will run.

-!I carry a few things, probably -nothing that makes any sense.

-Surely I will find -shelter with my family -or with my friends next door.

-I imagine my town is on fire.

-I will run and many -will run with me.

-We'll all carry a few -things, nothing much.

-We might find shelter -in the next town.

-!I imagine my country is on fire.

We all will run.

-We will carry very little -and we will run far.

-I might not know anymore -where or who I am.

-!By now I'm exhausted, I imagine.

-I imagine I will -run for my life.

-I will run for my life.

-I will run for my life.

-!A life that no longer resembles -anything like I knew before -but I will run for my life.

-I imagine.

-(calm music) -The language of -Burundi is Kirundi.

-In Kirundi the word for -!land is (speaking in Kirundi).

-(speaker grunting) -The word for garden is -(speaking in Kirundi).

-(speaking in Kirundi) -The word for Caterpillar -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for sweating -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for water is -(speaking in Kirundi).

-(crowd shouting) -(guns firing) -The word for red dust -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for scorched -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for water is -(speaking in Kirundi).

-[Lady] The word for shelter -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-[Man] The word for refuge -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for daughter -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-Born in a refugee camp.

-Provider is -(speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for genocide -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-The word for walking -is (speaking in Kirundi).

-!Far, far (speaking in Kirundi).

-(dramatic music) -(fire crackling) -(wind howling) -(lady vocalizing) -♪ Before you ask -take a look at her ♪ -♪ Take a look at her ♪ -♪ And the world she makes ♪ -♪ All that she knows -is in her hands ♪ -♪ It is in her hands ♪ -♪ They build a home on -their country's dirt ♪ -♪ On their country's dirt ♪ -♪ Then their country's dirt ♪ -♪ Then their country's dirt ♪ -♪ It blows away ♪ They build a home -♪ On their neighbor's land ♪ -♪ On their neighbor's land ♪ -♪ Till it blows away ♪ -♪ On their neighbor's land ♪ -♪ They lived 20 years ♪ -♪ They lived 20 years ♪ -♪ They lived 20 years ♪ -♪ They lived 20 years ♪ -♪ In a refuge camp ♪ -♪ There they built a hut ♪ -♪ Hundred thousand huts ♪ -♪ Hundred thousand huts ♪ -♪ Till they blows away ♪ -♪ Before you ask ♪ -♪ Take a look at her ♪ -♪ Take a look at her ♪ -♪ And the world she makes ♪ -♪ All that she knows -is in her hands ♪ -♪ Is in her hands ♪ -♪ Hundred thousand huts ♪ -♪ They become a home ♪ -♪ They become a home ♪ -♪ Then the neighbor's land ♪ -♪ Then the neighbor's land ♪ -♪ It blows away ♪ -♪ Then they run again ♪ -♪ As the neighbors run ♪ -♪ As the neighbors run ♪ -♪ To yet another land ♪ -♪ To yet another land ♪ -♪ To yet another land ♪ -♪ To yet another ♪ -(foot stomping) -(items falling) -♪ All the land is camps ♪ -♪ All the land is war ♪ -♪ Brothers in one camp ♪ -♪ Others seen no more ♪ -♪ They meet by chance ♪ -♪ As they search and run ♪ -♪ As they blow away ♪ -They're leaving one -country of problems -and coming to another -country of problems.

-That they become a part of, -We can't fix the system -so long as we keep adding -more broken pieces, -And we're becoming -a poor country -because we're overloaded.

-I keep seeing people -losing their jobs.

-Ow!

-!I know it sounds like bigotry, -but people are hurting.

Americans are hurting, right, and why should -we take care of immigrants -when we can't even take -care of our own people?

Right?

-Ah.

-Yeah you know there has -to be a point in time where we bring the working -people back up again.

-When we bring the money in.

-Yes, sometimes we -just have to say, whoa.

-Right.

-But they keep coming.

-(man vocalizing) -Once a woman who fled her -!country called me her daughter.

-!She of a different nationality, -a different language, -a different faith, -a different skin color.

-She who had been through -so much called me daughter.

-!We were sitting on her kitchen -floor in a dark apartment.

-This woman -surrounded by children -that weren't her own, -leaning up against -her like a tree trunk -carrying her scars like -unbearable baggage -I cannot begin to fathom, -sharing her story -with us in a small town -in the United States.

-She risked reigniting -her trauma of war, -of violence, of flight -by sharing her story.

-And she included me not -!knowing if I might refuse her.

-And then she made -me part of her family -by calling me daughter.

-That changed my life.

-(calm music) -(bouncy music) -What would I do if a -gang member held a knife -to my child's throat?

-[Man] When my country -can't protect my child -!from an army of violent gangs.

-[Blonde Man] I get my -child out of there, right?

-By any means possible.

-[Man] I would tell my -child to do it the legal way.

-[Lady] Get in line -and apply for asylum.

-[All speakers] What line?

-[Lady] I couldn't send -my eight year old child -!on a thousand mile by himself.

-[Man] Even if it -were the difference -between him living or dying?

-(bouncy music) -[Lady] Why did your -parents send you?

-Did you come alone?

-Who accompanied -you through Guatemala?

-Has anyone undressed you?

-How do you get food?

-What's in your pockets?

-Do you speak English?

-[Man] Washington, DC.

-(bouncy music) -What do you see when -you look at this boy?

A journey.

-A lost boy.

-A courageous boy.

-A desperate boy.

-A puppet.

-A hard worker.

-A drug mule, -did you check his shoes?

-An economic problem, a -drain on our resources.

-Not our problem.

A refugee.

-!He's not technically a refugee.

-An asylum seeker -in immediate danger.

-A thug.

-(speakers gasping) -A gang member.

-Is that what you see -when you look at me?

-!A strain on the school system.

-Someone who -doesn't speak English.

-Ignorant.

-Undocumented.

-Illegal.

-A fugitive.

-A child.

-I was traveling West -through Oneonta to New York -when a waitress in a -red sweater said to me, -"I used to live in Texas and -!the crime is so bad down there, -we should get rid of those people.

Those illegals.

-They steal the gas right -out of your car at night, -they steal anything and -they turn around and sell it -at those flea markets, -they don't pay taxes.

They take our jobs, they have food stamps.

And then they get money and send it back to their families in Mexico.

-Undocumented immigrants -do not receive food stamps.

-I was just telling -you what she told me.

-!Well, and then she said, "they -walk around with big bundles" -of cash in their pockets -because they get paid -under the table.

-!

"Don't get me wrong," she said, -"they're hard workers."

-Some of them are nice.

-"I used to live next door -to a family of Mexicans."

And then she went on to tell me, -"down there in Texas -where I used to live."

-It's horrible.

-There are snakes, everywhere.

-Coral snakes, rattlesnakes, -cotton mouths.

-Some of them are so small -they go right under your -door and into your house.

-And the little ones -are even more poisonous -"than the big ones."

I mean that's what the -waitress in the -red sweater said.

-(speaker panting) -In El Salvador, -the word for mother is -!

(speaking in a foreign language) The word for buddies is (foreign language) -School (speaking in -a foreign language).

-Soccer is football.

-Comic book is (speaking -in a foreign language).

-The word for this train is -(speaking in a foreign -language), the beast.

-(flashlight chiming) -(metal clanging) -♪ Sustain me blessed Virgin ♪ -♪ Sustain me ♪ -♪ Sustain me Holy Mother oh ♪ -♪ We cannot call -our lives our own ♪ -♪ The clothes we wear -are clothes we've sewn ♪ -♪ For another land ♪ -♪ For another land sent -by to us second hand ♪ -(speakers humming) -♪ Sustain me blessed Virgin ♪ -♪ Sustain me ♪ -♪ Sustain me Holy Mother oh ♪ -♪ How can they -say this isn't war ♪ -!♪ One death per hour Salvador ♪ -♪ At the gang lords' hands ♪ -♪ At the gang lords' hands ♪ -♪ Sent back to us -from your land ♪ -(speakers humming) -♪ Sustain me blessed Virgin ♪ -♪ Sustain me ♪ -♪ Sustain me Holy Mother oh ♪ -♪ I need to endure -tears of mud and rust ♪ -♪ And crossed a -thousand miles of dust ♪ -♪ And burning sun ♪ -♪ And burning sand ♪ -♪ To take me to your land ♪ -(speakers humming) -♪ Sustain me blessed Virgin ♪ -♪ Sustain me ♪ -♪ Sustain me Holy Mother oh ♪ -♪ Sustain me Holy Mother oh ♪ -[Lady] Please empty -out your pockets.

-!How much money are you carrying?

-Do you use drugs?

-What are you fleeing?

-Who is trying to harm you?

-Do you speak any English?

The English word for -!

(speaking in a foreign language) -Is my friend.

The word for (foreign language) -Is university.

-(speaking in a foreign -language) is smartphone.

-(speaking in a foreign -language) is football.

-Or soccer.

-(speaking in a foreign -language) is tea.

-(foreign language) is chicken.

(foreign language) is rosemary.

-[All speakers] It's -for the chicken.

-Yes, I speak English.

-I have a master's degree -in computer science.

-[Lady] There is -war in my country.

-[Man] War.

-(speaker mumbling) -[Lady] Why are you mumbling?

-Are you a Muslim?

What are you saying?

-What are you saying?

-♪ Show us the straight path ♪ -♪ Oh show us the path ♪ -♪ Of those you have -favored this day ♪ -♪ Not of those who are -objects of anger and wrath ♪ -!♪ Nor of those who under stray ♪ -♪ It is not for gain that -we forsake our land ♪ -!♪ It is not for profit we flee ♪ -♪ Our lives we place -in your merciful hand ♪ -♪ To face darkness -and storms on the sea ♪ -(dramatic music) -(wooden rods clanking) -(speakers humming) -Months waiting in Lebanon, -in Turkey, no peace.

-Paid smugglers.

-No transport was found.

-And when at last our boats -neared the harbors of Greece, -they stopped us -and turned us around.

-It is death to return -to our country of birth -and on no other -shore can we land -suspended between -two nations on earth.

-No one wants a Syrian man.

-♪ I stand here before you ♪ -♪ I stand and I say ♪ -!♪ It is not for profit we flee ♪ -♪ I stand here before you -in my languish I pray ♪ -♪ For these words -are sacred to me ♪ -♪ Show us the straight -path oh show us the path ♪ -♪ Of those you have -favored this day ♪ -♪ Not of those who are -objects of anger and wrath ♪ -The English word for (foreign language) -My family, (speaking -in a foreign language) Is my friend.

-My love.

-My lover, (speaking in a -foreign language) is kiss.

-This part of our story today, -how, how is this our problem?

-Could we imagine -that things are better?

-Could we imagine -that wars could stop?

-Could we imagine that -we are not helpless?

-Could we imagine that -powerful countries stopped -destabilizing -regions for profits?

-Stop the supply of -arms that cause people -like these to have to suffer -torture, flee their homes, -see their loved ones killed, -their families destroyed, -their cultures crushed too.

-Why is no one talking -about the sale of arms?

-Where did the arms come from -for the wars in Afghanistan.

-Syria, Iraq, Burundi, -Rwanda, Congo, -gang wars in El Salvador?

-This is about our own -history and the harm -that we have brought -elsewhere that now rolls back -on our own beaches.

-(calm music) -In East Prussia, the -language was German.

-In German the word for diary -is (speaking in German).

-Family history is, -(speaking in German).

-Generations on the land, -(speaking in German).

-Children is -(speaking in German).

-Grandchildren, -(speaking in German).

-The harvest is -(speaking in German).

-!Labor is (speaking in German).

-Stability is (speaking -in German).

-Cemetery is -(speaking in German).

-Yard of peace.

-(crowds shouting) -(guns firing) -[Lady] (in German) is war.

-[Lady] (speaking -in German) is flight.

-[Man] (speaking in German) -from the east of the country.

-(speaking in -German) to the West.

-- (speaking in German) -- the road to becoming.

-(guns firing) -♪ The sun in the corner ♪ -♪ The dust in the floor ♪ -♪ The gate standing open ♪ -♪ The time is at hand ♪ -♪ The sheet on the piano ♪ -♪ The key in the door ♪ -♪ The footstep unwilling -to leave this land ♪ -♪ The mark of a glove that -pressed at the glass ♪ -♪ The unfinished gesture ♪ -♪ The half-hearted wave.

♪ -♪ The orchid of apples -in shimmering grass ♪ -♪ A last look behind our -grandfather's grave ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -!♪ Do you leave a life behind ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -♪ Do you walk through -the borders of time ♪ -♪ Pages of photos -torn from a book ♪ -♪ The crystal the silver -walled up in cement ♪ -♪ Turn on the lights -for last parting look ♪ -♪ God will I ever -see this again ♪ -♪ Bombs coming -nearer blinding the eye ♪ -♪ Train pulling -forward into the night ♪ -♪ Darkness before -us erasing the sky ♪ -♪ Behind us the traces -of vanishing light ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -!♪ Do you leave a life behind ♪ -♪ When you walk long enough ♪ -♪ When you walk far enough ♪ -♪ Do you walk through -the borders of time ♪ -♪ Do you walk through -the borders of time ♪ -♪ Do you walk -through the borders ♪ -♪ The borders of time ♪ -If I listened to your -!story, have I become involved?

Does this make me afraid to listen?

-Because I might -recognize in your story -!my own feelings of displacement, -of loss, -of being treated unfairly -!because someone has simplified -me to an assumption.

-What is home?

-What is home?

-A place of family, -flavors, smells, -!stories, landscapes, traditions -no one leaves home -without dire reason.

-(dramatic music) -[Lady] Are you someone -who has been forced -to flee your country -because of persecution, -!war or state sponsored violence?

-If not, you are not -eligible for asylum status.

-Do you have a well-founded -!fear of persecution for reasons -!of race, religion, nationality, -political opinion, -or membership in a -particular social group?

-If not, you do not qualify -as a potential refugee.

-(dramatic music) -(gate banging) -(stamp banging) -(gate hinge creaking) -(gate banging) -(fence rattling) -Journeys, I see journeys -everywhere I look.

-Journeys, even for those -who are granted resettlement -the journey is not over.

-And the trauma is -in no way healed.

-Is it possible to just stop, -take a deep breath, -listen to others?

-Some people will be more -moved by these puppet stories -than by the real ones -they hear every day.

-But these stories won't -help those fleeing danger.

-Won't help pull them -from rafts and deserts -but can they help open a door -to them and to each other?

-They're more than just -puppets, aren't they?

-As for the -caterpillar's journey, -I've never taken the time -to watch one cross a road -but I do know that -if it makes it across, -it has the potential -to transform.

-(wooden boards clanking) -(scroll turning) -(speakers vocalizing) Vermont public partnering -with local filmmakers -to bring you -stories made here.

-For more, -visit vermontpublic.org.