2016-05-17

KAKUMA - How do you build a home in a place called nowhere? Filmmaker Lieven Corthouts decided to stay in one of the harshest places on earth and make this camp his home.

Kakuma refugee camp, built in the middle of the Turkana desert in Kenya, is the fastest growing town in the region. Many of its new arrivals are children sent by their parents from conflict zones. Against all odds, these children seize every opportunity in the camp to rebuild their lives. While waiting for her mother to return from South Sudan, Nyakong (8) starts going to school. She is slowly building a new home in the camp. By the age of 17, teenagers like Claude and Khadijo are competing for international scholarships, getting jobs and even building their own homes.

Filmmaker Lieven Corthouts decided to stay in one of the toughest places on earth and make this camp his home. Filming his friends for over 4 years, he reveals the achievements of these strong, intelligent children and the true dynamics of a refugee camp. Can Kakuma really offer a future? Or is it just a waiting room where the only option is to plan a journey to Europe?

Team members

Lieven Corthouts

Lieven Corthouts is a self-taught filmmaker who travelled the world before living in Ethiopia for 10 years. 

Lieven Corthouts
Supported
€5,000 allocated on 27/01/2014
ID
FPD/2013/1074

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