Refugee Republic (2014)

Refugee Republic is an online interactive documentary about everyday life in Domiz camp, a Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq, created by journalist Martijn van Tol, multimedia developer Aart Jan van der Linden, artist Jan Rothuizen and myself, produced by Submarine Channel in cooperation with De Volkskrant (Dutch daily newspaper)

Around 64,000 predominantly Kurdish-Syrian refugees have sought shelter here. As the number of refugees grew, the camp gradually transformed from a temporary refuge to a makeshift town, where people live and work, go to school, start a business, get married, argue and have fun. Refugee Republic allows you to explore and experience a snapshot of everyday life in Domiz camp through hand-drawn maps, photographs, and short video impressions.  

Refugee Republic was exhibited at the city hall of The Hague during the Movies That Matter festival 2015 and during the Krakow Photomonth Festival 2016. Refugee Republic was screened on a variety of festivals and received over a dozen awards among others the Dutch Design Award (2015), the Dutch Design Future Award (2015), the Dutch Film Festival digital story telling Award and the Interactive Award, Dutch Federation for Online Journalists (VOJN)

Exhibition in the city hall of The Hague