A short film that explores the community that forms around the Karen family center in San Diego, California and a self-help network of refugees from Burma (Myanmar). In Far From Kawthoolei, multiple perspectives guide a story that offers a better understanding of the Karen diaspora and their relationship to history as they envision a future unbound from war or refuge. The Karen community unites refugees from Burma at the Karen Organization of San Diego, an ethnic community based organization, to support the prosperity of a new generation born in the US who have not experienced the trauma of war crimes or the affinity of a people bonded to fight for self-determination. Far From Kawthoolei asks how Karen youth and their foreign-born refugee parents support one another’s integration into American society and reveals complexities in generational identities.
Excerpt of Far From Kawthoolei (2020)
