Filmmakers often talk about journeys when describing the narrative arc of their art. Rarely can such a description have a more appropriate use than in the case of A Place Called Home. As The National reported yesterday, the hour-long documentary, commissioned by Abu Dhabi Media, features five expatriates from Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Serbia, who came to work in this country with the intention of forging a better life for those they have left back home.
Their stories are common in the Gulf countries that host a large expatriate population from a wide range of social, ethnic and national backgrounds. Most will end up meaningfully contributing to the country’s economy, no matter how lowly their work might seem and how modestly they are paid. They deserve respect and admiration.
What’s different about this film is that it not only tells the stories of what these people do, but also the difference their work made in the lives of their families and in cases like Kalam Noor’s, their entire hometowns. The money that Mr Noor earns in the UAE benefits his whole community in the island of Tarabunia in Bangladesh. The film crew travelled to five countries to provide a deeper insight into their lives and to follow the remittances trail.
By doing so, A Place Called Home brings to attention the different economies at work in this country. What might seem a small amount of money in dollars or dirhams can have an enormous effect in other currencies. In many cases, this money can and does transform lives. As the director, John Sammon, said: “When looking at the bigger picture, it’s important to consider where people are coming from and where the money is going to, and what things cost in those different nations.”
Some parts of the international media are keen to push a one- dimensional view of life in the Gulf and often suggest that there is no fairness to the wage structures here. That is why it’s important that the other side to the story is also told through documentaries such as A Place Called Home.
