We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now. Read previous installments here.
In Australia, the treatment of incoming refugees from other nations is a serious political issue. One web series, though, is attempting to tackle it through comedy. In Two Refugees and a Blonde, creators Osamah Sami, Rain Fuller, and Shahin Shafaei explore the topic of immigration through a classic odd couple setup.
Two Refugees begins with radio host Zoe Hunter (Fuller) debating a conservative opponent on-air. She explains her belief that refugees are normal people, and should any appear at her doorstep, she would happily welcome them. This belief is immediately challenged when a pair of Middle Eastern refugees (played by Sami and Behrouz Harvasi) show up at her house in search of the free shelter she promised on the radio. Multicultural hijinks ensue.
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Two Refugees is trying to be much more than a funny web series.It is also attempting to use comedy to show the struggle of refugees, much like how Aasif Mandvi is using his web series Halal in the Family to explore the topic of Islamophobia here in America. A recent screening of Two Refugees raised money for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, an Australian organization that assists refugees.
“Refugees have been filling our news feeds. For the wrong reasons. But not for long — we hope. This series aims to remove the sombre stigma synonymous with refugees and to replace it with a dose of laughter, Iraqi-style hip-hop, and the occasional traditionally cooked sheep’s head,” said Sami in a press release.
Two episodes of Two Refugees are available thus far. They can both be viewed on the show’s YouTube channel.
OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT
- Close Encounters of the Fourth Haim. This mockumentary follows a fictional fourth sister related to the members of Haim.
- F’d. Three survivors of the apocalypse live together in a trailer.
- The F-List. A long-running web series just dropped a Meghan Trainor parody.
- Escorts. A hip young man finds his business selling sex in danger.
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