海角大神

Imraan Safi has come a long way since he landed alone in Munich, Germany, after fleeing the Taliban at age 15. Now a curator for Munich鈥檚 Kino Asyl, a German film festival that is managed and curated by refugees, he says he鈥檚 connected the dots in his integration journey. After learning the German culture, he is helping Germans better understand his culture through films.

鈥淭he more you know about us, the closer to get to us,鈥� said Mr. Safi, who is one of the 150 filmmakers and refugee advocates from around the world who recently gathered at the 鈥淔ilm, Flight and Interculturality鈥� conference in Frankfurt to talk about the role of film in bringing Germans and refugees closer together.

Since Germany鈥檚 open-door policy led more than a million refugees to arrive in the country in 2015, many initiatives have sprouted across the country to help refugees 鈥渋ntegrate.鈥� But at the conference, experts said it was time for Germany to trade its 鈥済iving to鈥� attitude toward refugees in favor of a more inclusive 鈥渄oing with鈥� mentality. 鈥淩efugees are here,鈥� says Katrin Willmann of the Federal Agency for Civic Education, which organized the conference along with the German Film Institute. 鈥淲e have to help society grow into a society that recognizes its diversity and accept[s] it. Cinema is a type of art that entertains and connects people emotionally.鈥澛�

With the conference, Christine Kopf of the German Film Institute says, 鈥渨e want to get beyond this 鈥榳e here, and they there鈥� mentality.鈥�

Before he arrived in Germany, Kurdish filmmaker Shaho Nemati was part of a team who helped children make a documentary, 鈥淟ife on the Border,鈥� about life at camps in Kobane and Shengal. Mr. Nemati said he hoped it would help Germans see refugees differently. 鈥淲e are not animals who need to be 鈥榠ntegrated,鈥� 鈥� says Nemati, who lives at a refugee camp near Frankfurt while his asylum application is pending. 鈥淲e are human beings, and we come with our education, with our individual cultures.鈥�