Clowns Without Borders began in 1993, when children in Barcelona raised funds to send a famous clown, Tortell Poltrona, to refugee camps in Croatia. The children in Barcelona got the idea from their refugee penpals, who said, “we miss laughter.”

This morphed into an organisation that aims to offer joy and laughter to relieve the suffering of all persons, especially children, who live in areas of crisis including refugee camps, conflict zones and territories in situations of emergency. Now, the humanitarian organisation is composed of 15 operational chapters around the world, working in more than 40 countries a year!

In January, we were asked to film a short portrait of Marzieh Kheir, an Afghan refugee who settled in Sweden several years ago. While she is separated from her family, who were unable to settle in Sweden, Marzieh is one of the most optimistic people we have had the pleasure of working with. The all-female shoot took place over one day; during which Marzieh, Phoebe, and Fanny walked across Stockholm and filmed in various locations. The day’s highlights included letting off a bright yellow smoke bomb on one of Stockholm’s bridges, as well as a creative studio shoot to finish off the day.

You can read more about the inspiring work that the Clowns Without Borders organisation does around the world here.