Choose Love, the charity that is dedicated to improving the life of refugees, returned to Carnaby Village, for a 3-day, pop-up event, which was in partnership with WaterBear and Eleven 27.

The Pop-Up Lab, was opened in March 17^th in Berwick Street, with an exciting difference, which was to showcase the screening of a new film called Matar.

Matar was created by the same team who were behind The Swimmers, and focuses on the experience of the co-writer, Ayman Alhussein, a refugee who fled war-torn Syria.  Ayman also served as a camera operator for the film, as he had previously been a cinematographer.  The film was produced by Deadbeat Films Studio and directed and co-written by Hassan Akkad.  It stars Ahmed Malek.

The film also centres on the UK’s asylum policies and the difficulties and hardship asylum seekers face within the country.

The Pop-Up Lab hosted film screenings, live podcast recordings as well as a photography exhibition.  There was also a pop-up shop for customers to buy items for those in need.

The event was organised by Eleven 27, who specialise in event management, bringing their expertise to the occasion.

Westend Wi-Fi were asked once more to provide the pop-up Wi-Fi for the Lab, and to design a new set of splash pages for the event which reflected the launch of Matar.

The splash pages allowed visitors to donate to the charity and view a short clip of the film whilst offering a walled-garden approach.  This meant that visitors could easily access the Choose Love and WaterBear website and could not browse further into the internet.

Find out more about Choose Love

Find out more about WaterBear

Find out about Eleven 27