About the Film

Hayatuna (Our Lives) chronicles the work of Swedish NGO Spiritus Mundi and a team of local artists as they bring music, dance, and theater into the lives of a group of orphan, refugee, and handicapped youth. The film explores how the performing arts can provide young people with a voice to express and empower themselves for both growth and healing.

This hour-long documentary chronicles Swedish NGO Spiritus Mundi’s “Hayatuna Amman” project which brings creative expression programs to refugee, orphaned and handicapped youth in Amman, Jordan. The international teaching team develops music, dance, and theater experiences to the children as we witness the challenges, progress, and finally, the success of these underserved youth in creating a performance that expresses who they are and how they see themselves in society. The film explores how the performing arts can provide young people with a voice to express and empower themselves for both growth and healing.

Montclair State University Professor David Sanders and Journalist Steve McCarthy traveled with a group of filmmaking students to Amman several times over a period of two years to document the process these children underwent to present a show that expresses their feelings and struggles to a community that is not always receptive to such displays. The film is especially pertinent given the current global crises with extremist radicalization. The program offers solutions on how to engender a sense of personal significance for young people, making radicalization a much less likely scenario in their lives.