A night to celebrate Utica’s tradition of Welcome and to support Ukraine and Refugee Communities
The Center (formerly the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees), along with supporter and corporate advocates Indium Corporation, Chobani, and Bank of Utica, invite the community to join them at the Stanley Theatre on Thursday, May 5th, 2022, at 7pm for the film Utica: The Last Refuge.
There will be a question and answer panel moderated by John Zogby, with the filmmaker, Loch Phillipps, directly following the showing. Tickets are $10 general/$5 student and available at The Stanley Box Office at 315-724-4000. Proceeds from ticket sales will support Ukraine and refugee communities. The event will be attended by ABC’s late night news program, Nightline, for national coverage.
The film opens with the Azeins family arriving at Syracuse International Airport seeking refuge from Sudan. After spending six years in a camp in Ethiopia, they finally make it to the United States, where they are welcomed by Abdelshakour Khamis (an employee of The Center and fellow refugee from Sudan). The Center is regarded nationally as a model agency for how refugee resettlement is performed and for how they guide Utica’s refugees into the American workforce and new lives. Utica is renowned as “The town that loves refugees.” Utica: The Last Refuge shows the interconnectedness of people, services, and the larger community in their desire to see others flourish and thrive. This film celebrates hope, resiliency, and the human spirit is a small, vibrant city in the Mohawk Valley.
“Everything in this film-the slices of everyday life, the intimacy-details a people and a community who found each other and gained salvation. I am proud to say it is my community and I have never before seen it captured so perfectly” – John Zogby
The Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting refugees, immigrants, and Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals throughout the immigration process and helps them achieve independence and self-sufficiency by developing products and services that enable us to build a community with many cultures.
