REFUGE is a story about fear and love in the American South. A leader in a white nationalist hate group finds healing from the people he once hated - a Muslim heart doctor and his town of refugees. Chris is a husband and father, a veteran, and until recently, a leader in the KKK. He started hating Muslims when the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9/11, but is forced to confront his hate when he receives a text from Muslim refugee, Heval. REFUGE illustrates the false promises of hate and reveals where real and lasting refuge is found. Where there is love, there is refuge.
REFUGE is set in the most diverse square mile in America - Clarkston, Georgia - and follows a Syrian Kurd, a former Klansman, and a town of refugees who seek belonging in a country that blames them for its problems. Swimming against the current of an increasingly polarized and isolated America, each must decide whether they will risk knowing and being known by those who oppose them. Ultimately, REFUGE uncovers what is possible when we leave the security of our tribes and what is at stake for our country if we don’t.
“The best thing about this film is that it doesn’t reduce either man to a stereotype — or even to a pat story of redemption. Bernhardt and Blankenship do what they want the people who watch the movie to do: They observe, they listen and they stay open to accepting people, no matter who they are.” - LA Times
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