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When the Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp was ignored & condemned by authorities, ordinary people stepped in to support the refugees stranded there.
On Our Doorstep delves deep into an aspect of the ongoing refugee crisis that rarely reaches the press. With NGOs being blocked by red tape and with the absence of any positive action by French or British authorities, this film is a behind-the-scenes look at the grassroots movement that rose to aid the ‘Jungle’, before it was forcefully demolished. It is the story of what happens when young and inexperienced citizens are forced to devise systems and structures to support 10,000 refugees; and are left unguided to face the moral and emotional dilemmas, blurred lines and frequent grey areas of giving aid to vulnerable people.
Originally arriving in the ‘Jungle’ as a volunteer, director Thomas Laurance ended up embedding himself and filming for a year, documenting what he saw up until the camp’s destruction, gaining intimate access to both the volunteers and refugees of the ‘Jungle’.
The camp itself may have been demolished in 2016, but the environment today is more hostile than ever, and this on-the-ground story, told with such immediacy and compassion, remains piercingly relevant.
