Refuge
REFUGE
Refuge is the story of a Muslim refugee and a former Klansman whose only commonality is being the target of blame in a polarized America. Set to the backdrop of two towns separated by 100 miles and warring ideologies, the film uncovers what is possible when we leave the security of our tribes and what is at stake for our country if we don’t.
Year: 2021
Project Type: Documentary
Evoke’s Role: Refuge is a program-related investment of Evoke Media. Evoke Media founder Sabrina Merage Naim is an Executive Producer.
Meet the filmmakers
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Director/Producer
Erin 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.
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Director/Producer
Din is an award-winning filmmaker based in Birmingham, AL. She was recently selected by the Producers Guild of America to be a 2023 PGA Create Fellows. Her first documentary, REFUGE, was Executive Produced by Katie Couric and has won both the Audience Award and Jury Award for Best Documentary at multiple film festivals. REFUGE was included in USA Today’s List of Movies to Watch in 2023 and is now available on all digital platforms and all Delta flights worldwide. Prior to filmmaking, Din worked as an architectural designer for over a decade. She has a Masters in Architecture with High Distinction from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Din proudly serves on the board of SUBJECT MATTER, which provides funds to documentary films highlighting urgent social issues and to nonprofits tackling the featured topics.
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Director of Photography
Joseph East is a documentary filmmaker. He has worked nationwide covering subjects as diverse as climate change, animal rights, education, the Junior Olympics, youth arts and more. Previous to joining the REFUGE team, Joseph was the Cinematographer/Editor for YOUR FANTASTIC MIND (airing on PBS fall 2018) and a Camera Operator for CHASING CORAL. Joseph also served as the director, cinematographer, and Editor on his most recent feature documentary called I WILL DANCE, which has been broadcast on PBS in Colorado and the National Endowment of the Arts Southern Circuit Tour.
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Editor/Co-Producer
Katharine gave up her promising career as a trapeze artist to become a filmmaker because of her desire to tell visual stories. Her work continues to be informed by the ethereal sensation of freedom that flying brings; nothing compares to the feeling of gliding through the air, the moment of weightlessness and the exhilaration as your wrists are grasped in a perfectly timed catch. For her, creating is a process of overcoming fears, forgetting self, processing life, interpreting people and getting to a place not visited before. There is no greater joy than connecting to an idea, letting it guide you, and then trusting in the process to get to an end.
Katharine’s life started in Nigeria, where she was conceived and the year her parents ended six years of life in Africa – her father the first NY Times African foreign correspondent. She then spent four years in Paris where her first words were in French; she is still fluent. Thanks to her curious parents her world has been a wonderful mixture of East, West, North and South. Katharine is an MFA graduate of Columbia University's Film Division and has taught filmmaking at Columbia University’s undergraduate film program and Avid Editing at Chelsea Loft Productions.
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Co-Editor
Luis Dechtiar is an Emmy award-winning lead editor and storyteller. Known for his gifted abilities to craft compelling and emotional narratives Luis has edited the critically acclaimed feature documentaries and series: Youngstown Boys (ESPN 30 for 30 Series). Nossa Chape (SXSW Film Festival, FOX Sports Films Magnify Series); Momentum Generation (Audience Award Tribeca Film Festival, HBO, Universal International); the episodic series Phenoms (Fox Sports1, multi-platform exhibition during FIFA World Cup Russia™); and Home for the Holidays (CBS Television) among countless other international projects including PBS and Fusion TV programming.
Luis continues to push himself and his editing team creatively and technically to pioneer the next creative style and storytelling experience. -
Assistant Director/Videographer
Mohua Thakurta is an independent producer who partners with non profits, small business owners and documentary filmmakers to grow and create engaging video content. Mohua, a passionate educator taught and mentored students for six years at the Art Institute of Atlanta from 2010- 2016. Prior to teaching she worked as an AD of various award winning film and television projects and shorts. Since moving to Atlanta in 2001 she has added to her expertise as a producer AD, Director and editor on multitude of projects. In addition to being involved in creating content she volunteers Clarkston based entrepreneurs at the START:ME accelerator program. When Mo is not working on a project she loves to read and spend time with her kids.
IMPACT BEYOND THE SCREEN
Refuge is an inaugural grantee of Subject Matter, which funds documentary films highlighting urgent social issues and corresponding nonprofits tackling those topics. Click here to learn more about Refuge’s impact through Subject Matter and beyond.
"A must-see."
USA TODAY
"If you've ever despaired that America is too divided to come together again, you're about to experience a glimmer of hope"
alliance of women film journalists
"Bernhardt and Blankenship do what they want the people who watch the movie to do: They observe, they listen and they stay open to accepting people, no matter who they are."
LA TIMES
