Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Migration isn’t simply an economic and political issue, the dimension of humanity is the most important one. Human beings have to leave their homeland throughout the history of mankind because of many reasons. Some left their country voluntarily while some migrations were indispensable. Children, old people, and the handicapped have always been the most negatively affected individuals in this process. Nearly half of the total refugees throughout the world are children under the age of 18. There are more than thirty thousand of children refugees currently in worldwide. The civil war in Syria, which started in 2011, has dragged thousands of people living in the area into migration. Turkey, located in a critical area between the Middle East and Europe, opened its gates to the people who had to leave their homeland. There are hundreds of Syrian children who are now living in Turkey with their families. The issue of migration has been used in cinema since the very beginning of the history of cinematography. The film named Misafir (2017, Andaç Haznedaroğlu), which is the topic of this study, is chosen with the purposeful sampling method. Misafir depicts the life of two children who had to come to Turkey from Syria because of the war. Problems and representation of refugee children are researched on the basis of the film and the role of cinema in transmitting these problems and creating the atmosphere of empathy is discussed.