Refuge
A leader in a white nationalist hate group finds healing from the people he once hated.
2021 | Running Time: 1 hour 18 minutes | Rating: NR
Chris Buckley is a father, veteran, and a former leader of the KKK living in rural Georgia. Following concern from his wife, Buckley receives help from an extremist group interventionist. Despite his renunciation of the KKK, Buckley retains a deep prejudice against Muslims, stemming largely from the 9/11 attacks and his experiences in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chris’ long-held beliefs are challenged when Dr. Heval Kelli, a cardiologist and Kurdish refugee living in the resettlement community of Clarkston, Georgia, reaches out to him. Dr. Kelli believes that he must do what he can to quell the rising, hateful rhetoric of white nationalism that threatens his diverse community of refugees who have fled persecution and violence for a better life in America. He takes it upon himself to try to understand Chris and others like him. An unlikely relationship develops. Will Chris overcome his hate? Will Dr. Kelli find what he is seeking? What’s possible when we are willing to face hate with humanity?
ERIN BERNHARDT, DIRECTOR & PRODUCERErin Bernhardt has won numerous film festival awards, two Peabody Awards, and an Emmy. Her first independent feature documentary, IMBA MEANS SING, aired worldwide on Netflix, Delta Studio, and all major VOD platforms. Prior to independent filmmaking, Erin served in the Peace Corps in Madagascar, worked as a Writer/Producer at CNN, and as the Director of Engagement for Points of Light, President George. H. W. Bush’s foundation. She loves volunteering, traveling, teaching yoga, and making her baby boy giggle.
DIN BLANKENSHIP, DIRECTOR & PRODUCERDin Blankenship is an architectural designer turned filmmaker. Her first documentary, REFUGE premiered at DOC NYC in 2021 and has won numerous film festival awards. Prior to filmmaking, Din worked in architecture for over a decade. She has a Masters in Architecture with High Distinction from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Din has designed transitional shelters for refugees and was invited to present her work at the Symposium for the Architecture of Disaster Relief. In 2021, Din founded Late Bloomer Films and is in pre-production on Love, Your Birth Mom, a documentary that follows several women with unplanned pregnancies who are considering adoption. Each will ultimately decide whether to raise their children or place them into the arms of another family.
“Refuge is must viewing for everyone. It’s time to turn off the news and turn our attention to stories and films that offer real solutions for peace. Start here and learn that people can change for the better.”
Alan Ng, FILM THREAT
“Refuge should be required viewing for every single person in the Country.”
AWFJ
Tags:
Biography, Race & Ethnicity, Politics