The Memory Box was a 15-day animation workshop involving around 40 children and young adults who had fled war and sought refuge in Syria.

Through storytelling, drawing, and animation, participants shared personal memories and hopes of returning to their homelands. Each participant chose a memory, developed it into a story, recorded their voice, and drew characters to bring it to life through animation.

The workshop resulted in a short animated film, a comic book featuring participants’ stories and drawings, and a documentary following the project. The documentary explored participants’ everyday lives and experiences of displacement, with footage from their schools, homes, and surroundings in Sayyida Zainab, near Damascus.

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Project concept by Sulafa Hijazi.

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The resulting animated short, The Memory Box: Kids to Kids, received a Special Jury Award at the 7th Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema in Russia in 2011.