Language of Laughter (Work-in-progress)

Heading into the fourth year of Syria’s civil war, there are over three million refuges. The international community has spent billions of dollars—and pledged hundreds of millions more—to aid neighboring countries struggling with what the U.N. calls the world’s “most dramatic humanitarian crisis.”

But here’s the reality: Money can provide food, water, educational programs, textbooks, even iPads, but it can’t bring happiness. The emotional scars run deep. Lost homes. Destroyed communities. Killed and missing loved ones.

The ongoing conflict poses an all too familiar question for terrorists and aid workers alike: Who will win the hearts and minds of this next generation? 

The film takes place in Jordan on the doorstep of a battlefield. The already strained kingdom is now home to 650,000+ Syrian refugees. More than half of them are children. Some have gone numb. Others have become aggressive. Some look normal. But their hardship doesn’t end at Jordan’s border. For many, camps have become synonymous with home. While they are provided with basic needs, they are essentially imprisoned in dusty, sprawling tents, most of which lack any color or memories from the life they once knew.

It doesn’t appear to be a time for laughter. But it is. More than ever.

Enter a team of clowns trained in crisis-intervention. Masters of improvisation and spontaneous play, the clowns provide a unique kind of therapy. Their power is in their ability to somehow break through.

A young woman from the EU, not only performs for the refugees, but also trains them to become clowns themselves. Telling the story through the eyes of a young Syrian refugee, and the clown from Europe, both of whom want laughter to replace their pain, will bring a personal perspective to the global conversation, one that often overlooks the beauty of humanity amidst the collateral damage of war, a conversation about wellbeing and mental health in disaster situations.