This Week @ the DFT: “Miss Kiet’s Children” Highlights Refuge Children In A New Country’s Classroom

In recent years, the Detroit Film Theatre has seen a growth in films highlighting the immigrant experience around the globe.

Photo Courtesy of the DFT

The Detroit Film Theatre is known for screening critically acclaimed narrative and documentary films from all over the world. 

This weekend, the DFT will be showing Miss Kiet’s Children, a documentary about refugee students from Syria who have been relocated to the Dutch countryside. 

Elliot Wilhem, the Detroit Institute of Arts film curator and the director of the DFT, previews the film with WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper. 

According to Wilhem, Miss Kiet’s Children is different than other refugee documentaries because it “focuses on one place.” 

The movie is set within the context of refugee families trying to assimilate in their new home. And yet, “we don’t really see much of anything that happens outside of Miss Kiet’s schoolroom,” says Wilhelm. 

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation. 

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.