This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is designed to support facilitators who want to nurture the power of human connection and for people who want to use Midnight Traveler to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and actively listening.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet the needs and interests of your community. Be sure to leave time for participants to consider what taking action might look like in relationship to the topics addressed in your discussion. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Through cellphone footage that feels a bit like home movies, Hassan reveals his family’s uncertain and dangerous journey. Their experience makes visible the frustrations and vulnerabilities experienced by thousands of refugees as they confront national bureaucracies, policies and prejudices.

Midnight Traveler tells the story of one family’s perseverance through a three-year journey, spanning thousands of miles and dozens of personal milestones, during which even the simplest tasks are made difficult and family is often the only comfort. The story of Hassan Fazili and his family humanizes the statistics behind the global refugee crisis, making the film an excellent springboard for discussions on immigration and asylum policies.

Midnight Traveler is an excellent tool for outreach and will be of special interest to people who want to explore the following topics:

Afghanistan

documentary filmmaking
immigration policy

nationalism

refugees and resettlement

resilience

Hassan Fazili - Afghan documentary filmmaker and father

Fatima Hossaini - Filmmaker and Hassan Fazili’s wife; her films have explored ways in which women assert power and independence while living under patriarchal oppression

Nargis - The family’s older daughter

Zahra - The family’s younger daughter

In addition to the resources at the end of this guide, we recommend consulting the following articles for more background about the Fazili family and the film:

Doreen St. Félix, “‘Midnight Traveler’ Expands the Narrative of the Refugee Documentary,” The New Yorker,September 17, 2019.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/midnight-traveler-expands-the-narrative-of-the-refugee-documentary?verso=true

Manohla Dargis, “‘Midnight Traveler’ Review: A Refugee Family’s Search for Safe Harbor,” The New York Times,September 17, 2019.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/movies/midnight-traveler-review.html

Starting the Conversation

Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen. Or pose a general question (examples below) and give people some time to jot down or think about their answers before opening the discussion:

If you were going to tell a friend about this film, how would you describe the story?

Describe a moment or scene in the film that you found particularly disturbing or moving. What was it about that scene that was especially compelling for you?

Did anything in the film surprise you? Was anything familiar?

If you could ask anyone in the film a single question, whom would you ask and what would you want to know?

How do you interpret the film’s title?

Policy Questions

What do you know now about the modern refugee experience that you didn’t know before viewing the film?

How has the film informed your thinking on immigration policy, and specifically on rules governing refugees and asylum?

What did you notice about the ways that children and parents rely on each other for support in the film? How might the family’s ability to persevere been affected if they had been subjected to a policy that separated parents and children or separated men and women?

Fatima Hossaini is upset when a smuggler threatens to take the children unless the family pays more. What aspects of current global immigration policies make refugees particularly vulnerable to unethical smugglers, or force the difficult choice between being legal and being safe?

The family is forced to flee Afghanistan because Taliban clerics object to the artist café they run. What is the perceived (or actual) threat that artists pose to authoritarian fundamentalists like the Taliban?

The Journey

At the film’s beginning, Nargis reads from Sayed Bahodine Majrooh’s The Ego Monster:

I have in mind a man who lived in a grand city and whose only work was thinking. For many long years, he sought the key to the secrets of existence in dusty old books and archives And in the end, one day he said, “Hell is other people.” I don’t think that’s correct. I’ve learned many things from traveling the desert and plains. And after crossing the wilderness, I’ve arrived at some truths. For instance, the road of life winds through hell. And also, hell is within me.

In what ways does this passage foreshadow—or appropriately frame—the family’s long journey? Would you say the road of the Fazili family’s life “winds through hell”? How?

In contrast to the smuggler who threatens the family, what examples do you see of people who help them? What do helpers have in common?

The family is attacked by Bulgarian nationalist gang members. One local apologizes for his “stupid” countrymen. Police defend the nationalists. If you were trying to explain to the children in the refugee camp why some Bulgarians are so angry and resentful towards them, what would you say?

After refugees are attacked, some want to defend themselves and fight back against the Bulgarian gangs. What rights do the refugees have to protect themselves and their families?

After five days hiding (and freezing) in a forest, the family makes their way to a refugee camp, only to be told that it is full. They are turned away. How does this create a no-win situation for the family? How can they follow the rules that would make their journey legal if the rules or restricted resources are designed to make them fail?

As the family waits for more than a year to get on the list that will allow them into Hungary, with no idea of how much longer the wait will be, others urge them to sneak into Croatia illegally through the forest. What factors weigh on their decision?

From a Child’s Perspective

We see Nargis, Zahra and other children playing a game where police chase travelers who hide in the forest. What does this sort pretend of play tell you about the children’s real life experiences? How does it speak to the fact that learning and teaching is happening all the time?

Stories about refugees often generalize about the impact on children, but when you’re very young, even small age differences make a large difference in your perspective. How did Nargis’s experiences and Zahra’s experience of their refugee journey differ? What did they share?

Nargis recalls, “We had a television. My parents would watch reports of the war in Afghanistan on it. Little by little, I thought, ‘Our country is so destroyed.’ When my dad would realize that we were listening, all of a sudden he'd say, ‘Hey, Nargis and Zahra! When you grow up, what do you want to be?’” What did you learn from this scene about the relationship between Hassan and his daughters and what it is like to grow up (or raise children) in a conflict zone?

The Parents’ Perspective

Fatima uses a map to show the girls where they are and where they’ll be going, concluding, “Wherever we can go, that’s where we’re going!” What do you think it would be like to live with that level of uncertainty and also to be responsible for children?

Hassan and Fatima know that parts of their journey will be dangerous. What would it take for you to make a choice that would put your children (or anyone you care about) in danger?

The family finds welcome shelter in safe houses, camps and centers. At one, the children are attacked by bedbugs. What do you think it would be like to watch your children suffer? What would you say or do to help them get through the discomfort, especially if you only had limited control over the situation?

At one point, Zahra disappears. What’s the difference between that situation and, say, when a family loses track of a child in a mall?

Fatima and Hassan argue about Hassan flirting. Do you think he crossed a line or was he just being friendly? What role did gender play in their refugee experience?

What did you make of Fatima’s and Hassan’s nuanced and differing approaches to Islam?

Media and Memory

Did your family record home movies? What events or people were typically the subjects? How does this family’s “home movie” compare?

What would have been lost if authorities had forced Hassan to turn over his phones?

After the family is attacked by Bulgarian gang members, news reporters come to interview the detainees about the violence. What role do/can media play in developing empathy for refugees?

Nargis dances to Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us.” What do you think it is about this song that speaks to her, despite its being recorded years ago, on another continent, by a musician who did not share her race, religion or ethnicity? Where do you find music or art that speaks to you?

How did media help the family cope with boredom? Choose next steps?

Prior to viewing the film, if someone had asked you to describe an Afghan person, what would you have said? What were your most reliable sources of information? How did the Fazilis affirm or contradict your original idea?

At the end of film Nargis says, “I'm gonna forget. I absolutely don't want to remember this in the future.” Why do you think she is so adamant about wanting to forget? Why might it be important for her, and for others around her, that she remembers?

Closing Questions

At the end of your discussion, to help people synthesize what they’ve experienced and move the focus from dialogue to action steps, you may want to choose one of these questions:

What did you learn from this film that you wish everyone knew? What would change if everyone knew it?

If you could require one person (or one group) to view this film, who would it be? What would you hope their main takeaway would be?

This story is important because ___________.

Complete this sentence: I am inspired by this film (or discussion) to __________.

Additional media literacy questions are available at:https://www.amdoc.org/engage/resources/media-literacy-questions-analyzing-pov-films/using-framework/

If the group is having trouble generating their own ideas, these suggestions can help get things started:

Make a film using your phone to tell your own refugee story or to publicize the work of organizations in your community that work to serve and resettle refugees.

Help your community visualize the global heritage of its residents. Create a giant map of the globe in a community space like a park, a library, or a museum. Place a large stake at your location. Then invite each participant to place a dot to mark where their family came from and attach the dot to the stake with yarn. You might even use different colors of yarn to represent different time periods when people arrived in this country. Take pictures of the finished map and post them online. Invite discussions of how immigrants have shaped your community.

Study the United Nations’ Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which the United States helped to draft. Meet with federal and local legislators to discuss the policies you think should be implemented in order to meet the obligations outlined in the document.

Explore content related to Midnight Traveler on the POV website, where you’ll also find other relevant features, shorts and digital projects.

https://midnighttraveler.oscilloscope.net/ – Film’s official website – general info and screening info

Reports on Afghan Migrants

Afghanistan Analysts Network

Amnesty International

Migration Policy Institute Afghanistan Profile

General Information on Refugees

BBC News – A series of graphs tells the story of migration to EU nations since 2015.

International Rescue Committee – Assists refugees in the U.S. and provides statics and general information about refugees and resettlement.

UNHCR – The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees organizes and provides assistance to people across the world who are stateless. Resources include statistics and research on where displacement has occurred and where refugees are in need.

Vox – A report, including nine helpful graphs, describes the current global refugee crisis.

This resource was created, in part, with the generous support of the Open Society Foundation.