The Forgotten Millions: Ralph's films give refugees voice

Ralph Baydoun with Rachel Smalley in the Bekaa Valley. Photo / Jo Currie, World Vision

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FAQ: WHAT IS THE FORGOTTEN MILLIONS CAMPAIGN?

Ralph Baydoun is a 23 year old Lebanese videographer based in World Vision's Beirut office and last month we travelled together to some of the more challenging areas of the Middle East - the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and the Lebanon-Syrian border.

I refer to Ralph as my stroppy little brother. He is as bossy as he is creatively brilliant. I need him for his historical knowledge, his translation and his direction in the field. He probably doesn't need me for anything, but he's too polite to say.

It is Ralph's films that make up much of the Herald's online video content in the Forgotten Millions campaign.

"Politics use to dominate my life but then I realised this is how you bring about change. You need to tell peoples' stories. My films are about the lives of refugees in their own words."

Ralph and I first met last month when we interviewed Iraqis displaced by Isis in Kurdistan, and then we returned to Lebanon - Ralph's homeland - to meet with Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley.

The hours were long. The stories relayed to us by refugees were almost always traumatic. Sometimes, they overwhelmed me. Sometimes it was Ralph who became emotional.

"I always said I would live my life to the point of tears, and this is what I do now."

In most of my interviews, Ralph is beside me translating our conversations and filming refugees' first-person accounts.

Watch: Children of the Syrian crisis

"Sometimes when I talk to people, it triggers such emotion. They take me back to Syria. This doesn't feel like work to me. It is far too personal for work," he says.

He prefers to film the stories of refugees in their own words, and uses a minimal amount of equipment - a 5D digital camera, and a smart phone to record audio.

"I can show the world what is happening right now. I can film an interview in Iraq and you can have that story in New Zealand within an hour. This is what I do. I give refugees a voice."

Later, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley I am filming a 'piece to camera' with Ralph when he suddenly switches off the camera, shakes his head at me and looks skyward.

"What? What did I do now?" I say.

"Just talk! This is not a news broadcast. Just talk in a normal voice. You are not in a studio presenting the news."

He looks exasperated. I laugh. He looks even more exasperated.

"Ok, ok," I mutter. "Settle down Mr Grumpy."

Watch: The forgotten children of Syria - Their stories in their words

I am teasing Ralph but I know this is why he produces such brilliant films in the most challenging of circumstances. It is his attention to detail, his perfectionism and his stubborness. He wants his films to be the best they can be.

That said, it doesn't come without a personal cost. I know that Ralph is sometimes troubled by his work. He is often overwhelmed by a desire to protect the people he meets and the need to tell their stories with accuracy and dignity.

"I can't forget anyone I have interviewed but some peoples' stories will never leave me. I am troubled by them."

He taps a finger to his head.

"They are stuck in here," he says.

He finds the editing process the most difficult and locks himself away from family and friends so he can immerse himself in the story.

"I disconnect from everything when I edit. I go into a different space, but it tortures me. Telling the stories of these people tortures me."

I watch his first film and it moves me to tears. Later I tell him he is one of the few people I know who has captured the humanity of the Syrian crisis.

"You know what?" he says.

"I never watch my films back. It is too hard. I feel too responsible. What if these people have told me their stories and nothing changes? What then?"

He shakes his head. He goes quiet. I know him well enough by now to know he is on the verge of tears.

"Sometimes in this line of work the tears come, Rach. That is just how it is for me in this crisis."

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