When Viktor Witkowski started filming in Rutland in September of 2016, the goal was to focus on the people who were preparing to welcome 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees. With the election of Donald Trump in November of 2016 everything changed. One of the first major shifts in immigration policy was the so-called "Muslim travel ban" initiated by the administration. As a result, only nine people of the initial 100 refugees resettled in Rutland. Since then, Rutland has been suspended as a refugee resettlement destination. We now find ourselves as a divided nation in danger of forgetting what binds us. And to forget what makes us alike is to deny each other our own humanity.

Rutland is a full-feature film that is partly a documentary and partly an art film. It has a running time of 70 minutes. The public screening will take place in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland on the 23rd of February at 7 pm. Following the screening, there will be a Question & Answer session with the director.

Rutland is Viktor Witkowski's third film about the refugee crisis that has affected people from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Since early 2016, he has been working with and documenting people who had to flee their home countries to resettle in Germany. Rutland is his final film on refugees and those who are welcoming them.