Original subtitles

[car horns and traffic]

-Bravo.

Straight.

Eye. Bravo.

No...

[inhaling and exhaling]

Bravo.

[inhaling and exhaling]

-Sofia, come.

[camera shutter clicking]

[breathing deeply]

[reporter] Refugees have a champion in

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer,

Muhammed Muheisen.

[Muhammed] I wanted to spread more awareness,

I wanted to change stereotypes and

I wanted to raise the voice of the people

that I photograph.

[applause]

[Narrator] He's a world traveler who,

for over a decade,

has been documenting the refugee crisis all

around the globe.

[Muhammed] These are not just pictures,

these are testimonies that live forever.

-The people he's photographing are responding to

the man behind the camera, not just the camera.

[Muhammed] I never forget any of the children

that I photograph.

They are part of my life, as I am part of theirs.

-He's immersing himself,

advocating for refugees.

How do you show the impact of war?

How do you show the impact of strife?

-Muhammed has set a very high standard for himself

to make a difference.

But for a problem as huge as refugees,

what can one person do?

[reporter] Russia launched more than 50 cruise missiles

targeting critical infrastructure in Kyiv and

cities across the country.

Ukraine...

[Muhammed] The end of 2021, there was a lot of noise about

a possible war between Russia and Ukraine.

We didn't want to believe it.

You think something will happen?

Do you think the war would happen?

No, we're in, come on.

[sirens wail]

[reporter 2] What seemed unthinkable in the 21st century

is now underway.

Many Ukrainians are staying to fight.

Others are fleeing in an attempt to keep

their families safe.

Men cannot leave the country.

We've seen a steady flow of women and children.

[reporter] This invasion of Ukraine has caused the biggest

European refugee crisis since World War II.

According to the United Nations, more than...

[Muhammed] We're just heading to the shelter for

Ukrainian refugees living in Bucharest, Romania.

Where the goal is to share their stories with the world.

[runners approaching]

[overlapping chatter]

[♪ soft music playing]

[Muhammed] The people here are on hold.

They're stuck.

They fled for their lives,

leaving behind their schools, jobs, family and

have no idea when they can go back.

Not an easy job to be in a foreign country alone as a mom.

[Muhammed] I'm under surveillance.

These people just want to know what he's doing,

who he is, why he's with camera?

Good morning.

All good?

Golden teeth.

This shelter is a school dorm run by students.

With the minimum resources they have,

they manage to make it a home.

But with time, the budgets become less,

things start to fade away.

And when the media attention goes somewhere else,

these people become invisible.

My job is to keep that attention on them.

I always was interested in the things that are unseen.

[distant gunfire]

I was born and raised in Jerusalem,

under the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It didn't actually give me a lot of choices to be a kid.

I wake up in the morning,

there is a TV that says what's happening.

There is a funeral, there is clashes, chaos.

The news, the news, the news, is everything.

But I always had the support of my family.

My mom told me,

when you came to this life, you were very quiet.

You were different than your other siblings.

I remember my grandma had this Polaroid camera,

and this was a start.

I found something actually to keep me positive and to dream.

All I wanted to do was take pictures of beautiful trees and

raindrops and colors.

When I started University,

I wanted to do some art photography.

But I couldn't be a normal student.

It was the second Intifada.

There was an Israeli army incursion in the

West Bank city of Ramallah.

Walking to my college, there used to be a checkpoint.

[Crowd] Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!

[Muhammed] There used to be clashes.

This is my environment.

I started capturing what's happening around me.

I started to think if I don't capture these events,

it's like it never happened.

I have to capture it.

And this is when I got approached by the

Associated Press.

-Muhammed was 19 when I met him.

He seemed very plugged into the society,

just like a man about town.

There are certain things that can't be taught,

like respect for the truth.

It was apparent that he had the right stuff.

I said, you know,

at AP your pictures will reach all corners of the world.

You will have impact working for us.

[Muhammed] It's a holy profession,

being a photojournalist.

And back in the day,

they wanted to have the bang bang,

the hardcore picture,

they don't want the beautiful scene.

To be known you had to stand in the middle of the fire.

You know, the pictures became important,

they started to be part of the news.

When I was a young kid,

the thing I wanted to avoid is the news.

Now I'm a part of it.

[overlapping chatter]

[people speaking Ukranian]

[Muhammed] When you are in a war zone,

you turn your camera, there's something here,

there's something there.

But here, you have to think, you have to invest.

My intention is to get to know the people,

hear their stories, and find out what they need.

How I could be a help.

-So we can open it.

All by, by sizes.

Here we go.

-I think the priority today is the children ones.

I founded Everyday Refugees Foundation

with my wife.

-We need, like, 80 children.

But first, we have to sort everything according to size.

[Muhammed] With the mission to document, educate, help,

and empower as many as possible.

Who's the lucky that's going to have this one?

I take pictures, Roos manages the foundation.

[Roos] What are the sizes they need?

[Muhammed] We brought shoes,

we have necessary stuff for the mothers and

for the children.

And we're happy to equip the playroom so the kids can

have a good environment to spend their time in.

-Hello!

-How are you? Good?

[overlapping chatter]

[speaking Ukrainian]

When I met Nikolai,

I was wondering why this kid is full of bruises.

No, no, no, no.

Opa.

Five-year-old kid, tough,

full of energy, full of colors.

Opa, opa, opa.

This kid is a tough cookie.

I think he will be part of the story.

[♪ upbeat music playing]

[Muhammed] I saw this young boy.

He's always with his two other brothers.

They're a pack.

So I was curious to learn more about him.

Wait. Let me see your shoes.

What's your shoe number?

What's the size?

One sec.

What's your name?

[Muhammed] Name, name, Muhammed. You?

[Muhammed] Miron is around 11.

He's good. He's talented.

These three are your kids?

Well done.

They're nice boys, really nice.

[Muhammed] Where are you from?

[Muhammed] Mykolaiv.

[Muhammed] You want to go back?

-Yes. -Want to go home?

[Muhammed] With my work, I don't just take pictures.

I like to know more about you,

and to hear your story, if you don't mind.

[Nikoli whispers in Ukranian] A rocket. A rocket.

[Muhammed] You realize all these families have

now experienced war,

and it is not always obvious how war will affect you.

[explosions and gunfire]

[Muhammed] Like at the beginning of the war in Iraq,

I'll be honest with you. I wanted to go.

I thought I have good experience.

I thought, come on,

I was born dodging bullets.

I was 22 years old,

covering the US-led war in Iraq.

I really thought I'm King Kong.

But Iraq was different.

I speak the language.

I see injustice happening.

I saw a lot of blood.

I spoke to some soldiers who had no clue what the

hell they are doing there.

And that mess you up.

You know, that really changes everything you believe in.

You start to look at the world from a different angle.

I photographed the people mourning,

destruction, moments where people

were really vulnerable,

especially in funerals.

I used to just come close.

I just wanted to take a picture.

How can I tell if I'm welcomed or not welcomed?

-You are there to do a job,

and that job is to chronicle the war.

You can't always ask permission.

Either learn to live with the complexity of taking pictures

at a terrible time or don't make the pictures.

[Muhammed] I was just a young man in the beginning of

his professional career.

I used to spend most of my time sitting in the bathroom

on the ground and just thinking.

You just start to isolate yourself from everybody,

from the people you love.

You cannot talk to anybody.

I became less colorful.

In Baghdad, we had a kind of small office.

And there was a colleague of mine,

Anja Niedringhaus,

sitting over there with her computer.

Out of the blue, she put Norah Jones.

I love Norah Jones.

We just became friends immediately.

Wake up in the morning,

I hear in the radio, "Habibi, you're awake."

I say, "Yes, I'm awake.

I'm coming."

With Anja, I had felt safe.

She was literally the light in a dark place.

We took good care of each others from a war zone.

[explosion]

One day, I heard a boom and a black smoke.

A black smoke is never a good sign.

And I saw this guy on top of this Humvee holding a metal bar.

Took the first picture, second picture,

as I'm up to capture the third frame,

I saw this angry man jumping off this Humvee toward me.

I saw my head being chopped.

I was really scared that moment.

I just started running.

And I went back to our office,

started going through my picture.

I had this picture.

I didn't file it.

I don't know why.

I just froze.

Anja passed my computer.

"Oh, did you file it?"

She said, "What are you waiting for, man?

This is a strong picture."

The next day it was published everywhere.

I was awarded Pulitzer Prize for that war.

But this picture could have cost me my life,

and I'm not sure my pictures helped or made a difference.

[overlapping chatter]

The trauma of war doesn't leave you easily.

She's in her own world.

[knocking]

Hello, is Miron here?

I have something for him.

Look what I got you.

Open.

Are you happy?

No, you're welcome.

Try it on.

[Muhammed] So he can play better football.

[Muhammed] That's good.

[Muhammed] This boy, Miron, his mom is looking forward to

register them in a professional football club here.

So I told her, you know,

no promises but I can look into it.

[Roos] Yeah, we can check it out.

[Muhammed] The more you spend time,

the line of trust begins and this is for me the

beginning of starting to capture emotions.

[Muhammed] Ah!

[Muhammed] I need that emotion to be able to

get your attention.

I learned that in Pakistan.

In 2009, I was asked to go to Pakistan.

I don't want to go to Pakistan.

It's the kidnapping, suicide bombings.

But I'm a good soldier.

You never say no, you say, I'll do my best.

Driving through Islamabad to cover events happening,

I passed by some kind of an area.

Internally displaced people and refugees live here.

What the hell is this?

People sleeping in the middle of nowhere,

and the world looking in the other direction.

This is when I realized that I know nothing about photography.

If the news is right there and I just turn around,

I will see a different scene.

And that scene was full of life.

I started to see colors.

I learned how to be patient.

I started to feel emotions.

By spending a lot of time in the same environment,

I gained their trust.

[Jacqueline] You know, when you're a news photographer

and you're photographing,

those people remain a stranger in some way.

But I think when they're looking you in the eye,

they're a little less a stranger.

[Muhammed] When I started to do daily life photography,

I started to think I could get involved,

I could do more to help them.

So I was always approaching my superiors and saying

how far can I go?

But the answer was always unpleasant.

Simple kindness.

What is simple kindness?

Shake someone's hand?

Embrace someone?

Give them chocolate?

I'm a photojournalist.

My role is to document and inform.

There was a line.

I can't cross it.

-It is an unreasonable expectation that

you can do anything about these people that

you've connected with.

[Muhammed] I got an email from superiors.

"You need to stop that kind of photography.

Please focus on news.

It's a business.

It's an industry.

And these daily life scenes doesn't bring enough money

to the company."

But I used to talk with Anja all the time,

and she tells me, "I love it."

She said this is very important also to document and

share with the world.

[♪ electric guitar plays]

[♪ upbeat rock music playing]

[Muhammed] These moments that you immortalize makes

a lot of difference.

People actually connect to it.

[villager] Good, Muhammed. Bravo!

[Muhammed] I want you to say, "Who are these people?

What's going on here?"

And if I don't manage to make you curious I failed

as a photographer.

[speaking in Ukrainian]

[Muhammed] Hello.

[Oksana] [in English] Hello.

[Muhammed] Do you mind if I spend a bit of time here

just to see how they fall asleep?

-It's okay?

[Muhammed] Thank you.

[Muhammed] If they fall asleep, I know they will not.

[Muhammed snoring]

[Muhammed] Good luck to you.

-Thank you. -Alright.

[Muhammed] Their lives got more and more complicated.

They have to live between worlds.

And I've seen this in many other places.

I was working constantly,

running between one war to another.

You have to be very fast.

Capture, edit it quickly, caption it, file it

because there is a deadline in the Middle East,

Europe, and Africa, and there is a deadline in the States.

But to be honest with you, all I wanted to do was to stay

in Pakistan and continue daily life photography.

And then the Arab Spring started.

[reporter] Demonstrators hit the streets

of Tunisia's capital.

Fueled by social media, protests erupt in Bahrain,

Morocco, Jordan, Algeria, then Yemen.

[Muhammed] I went to Yemen, Egypt,

and in the middle Syria started.

-It was a very dangerous conflict,

more so than others,

and you want to show people what the cost of

the fighting is.

[Muhammed] Most of the photographers wanted to go

directly to the frontline, be surrounded by the bang bang,

to have the dramatic pictures.

I decided to focus more on the people who were forced

to run from that fighting.

In a Syrian village called Atmeh,

there are hundreds of people taking refuge in tents.

I saw this young boy wrapped in bandages.

The only thing you see in his face is his eyes.

[Muhammed] His picture was widely published after,

and many people got to learn about Abdullah.

[presenter] For a distinguished example of

breaking news photography,

congratulations, Muhammed Muheisen.

[Muhammed] For me, that picture meaning his story

will live forever.

And even if this picture doesn't do anything now,

it might help someone else in the future.

After that, people started to dig deeper in my work,

people started to take my stories more seriously.

That means every picture that I capture will be seen

by more people.

And then my pictures started reaching the online world,

and there was blogs talking about Muheisen's

daily life photography.

I started receiving emails like,

this is beautiful, I love that shot,

I love that color. Who's that kid?

I wanted to take advantage of that.

And I started to feel like,

I would be able to make a difference through

my photographs.

[makes helicopter sound]

[laughs]

His mom is in Ukraine, and he's not the same Kolya.

Rescue.

It breaks my heart to see these kids in the unknown.

[Muhammed] What's his name?

-Zhenya. -Zhenya.

[Sasha] Artiom.

[Muhammed] Slonik is on vacation.

[Miron] [in English] Yes.

[Muhammed] Did you speak to your husband today?

[Sasha] [in English] Yes, no.

[Muhammed] Oof, I'm dead.

[Roos] Yeah, me too.

-You know, these boys keep jumping on my back.

And not one or two, three.

-All of them. -Yeah, yeah.

[Roos] The big ones.

[Muhammed] Yeah, yeah. I'll send you the big ones.

Since I was young, I wanted to have children.

But because of my work, I couldn't commit.

I've been many,

many times between life-and-death situations.

The ones you love,

if something happens to you,

you're going to leave them behind with a lot of pain.

I got a call from my best friend,

she was in Kabul.

"Momo, you've got to come to Afghanistan."

I had two options, to say yes or to say yes.

I went to Kabul, spent a few days with Anja.

We were chatty, happy.

We took pictures.

She wanted to go to Khost to do a special reporting about

the Afghan national election.

[Kathleen] Anja was covering a happy story,

Afghans voting for their government.

[Muhammed] On the 4th of April 2014,

around 7:45, I opened a newspaper.

She had a front page in it from a picture she took

the day before.

I emailed her, "Anja, you have a front page."

She replied back to me a bit after,

"Nice, I'm here.

It's pissing rain, but I'm happy."

90 minutes after,

I got a phone call from the office.

Anja just has been shot and killed in Khost.

[♪ somber music playing]

[reporter] Anja Niedringhaus, aged 48.

[reporter 2] Photographer Anja Niedringhaus was killed...

[reporter] Targeted by a policeman...

[in native language]

[reporter 3] Anja Niedringhaus.

[Muhammed] I had to identify a body.

I didn't want to believe it.

Throughout my career,

I couldn't build a proper relationship,

but Anja was always my friend.

-I think Muhammad took Anja's death as a personal

failure as if he could have done something.

I think it was the first time that he truly felt helpless.

[Muhammed] From April till December 2014,

I forgot all these things that I did.

It was quickly everything was happening.

Shortly after, I collapsed.

I couldn't even pick up my camera.

I entered a dark passage.

Colors were gone.

The region that I was in love with,

Pakistan, Afghanistan, suddenly I couldn't stay in.

[children laughing]

[speaking in Ukranian]

[wind]

You okay?

[Muhammed] Let me just figure something out.

This is charged.

[Muhammed] I had to go as far as possible.

I became the regional chief photographer.

And I moved to Jordan,

where there was large numbers of Syrian refugees.

I was traveling from one camp to another.

I saw a young girl, Zahra Mahmoud.

She was almost five.

This girl was very sad, quiet.

Zahra entered my heart.

When I see the trauma of war in her tiny face,

it all came back.

[explosions]

I heard Anja's voice ringing in my head,

"Moo moo, that child needs you."

I tried my best to show the world through her eyes

what this little girl experienced.

Her portrait, it was published everywhere.

Her picture became the face of the lost childhood.

I received emails, messages saying:

"We love Zahra." "She's beautiful."

Some people send me gifts for her.

I was very happy, I said,

"This is it, it's going to change their life."

Unfortunately, nothing changed.

[reporter] Children are increasingly bearing the brunt

of conflict across the globe.

[camera shutters clicking]

[Kathleen] Zahra's story is the embodiment and the frustration

of not being able to solve this enormous global problem.

Nothing has happened yet to his great

frustration and disappointment.

[Muhammed] I called my superiors at AP.

I said, "I quit. I can't see myself anymore here."

I said, "Yes, I'm done."

It became very clear to me it's not enough for me to

be the messenger.

I wanted to make an actual difference in people's life.

[Muhammed] I went to cover these young refugees stranded

in abandoned warehouses in Belgrade, Serbia.

But this time we came back, me and Roos, to help.

[Roos] Hello.

[Muhammed] It's beautiful, huh?

[Roos] Stunning.

[Muhammed] We brought warm clothes, proper footwear.

So this is how Everyday Refugees Foundation started.

-When he left the AP, people were upset.

Cause he went from journalism to advocacy and activism.

[Muhammed] We have been supporting a school in Pakistan

for Afghan refugee girls.

We launch a lot of projects in Greece to help Syrian refugees.

And I wanted to change stereotypes.

And I have made it my mission to keep telling Zahra's story.

I will do my best to help them, to change their life.

To find them a home.

But for a family like them,

to be relocated somewhere else in the world

is tougher than we imagine.

So every year, I visit Zahra at least twice a year.

[Muhammed] For the last seven years,

I've been visiting, same tent,

and I never stopped believing the day will come and

I'll be visiting Zahra somewhere in an environment

they should be in.

There's no easy solution,

but I can't just walk away.

I wish I can just, just flip their life.

You okay?

Miron Messi.

[Muhammed] Miron, come. You press...

1, 2.

[♪ somber music playing]

[Muhammed] Hello.

You're so beautiful, welcome back.

[kids] Oksana!

[Muhammed] For me, and for Roos.

So which one is mine?

This is mine. No, this is mine.

[Muhammed] I get criticized a lot that,

you get too close to the people.

If I don't get close to the people,

I will never be part of their life.

I see people with colors.

Some people are blue, some people are green,

some people I just want to come close to.

And this is where the colors come.

I want to share these colors with the world.

Because then somebody in Texas says,

"How can I help that kid?"

That's where the difference begins.

[♪ reflective music playing]

[Alexia] She is wondering if you are leaving for Ukraine.

[Muhammed] No, I'm leaving for home.

The worst part of my job is saying goodbye.

I go back 20 years ago.

It's like sometimes I tell myself,

did I really live that life?

[explosion]

Was it really me who took that picture?

I kept going from conflict to another,

I kept going from shattered place to another.

Now, I replaced it with joyful moments.

It was important to cover that, to document that.

But life is as important as also documenting death.

I chose life, I choose the light now.

[♪ upbeat music playing]