Award-winning documentary How I Became a Refugee, which follows the flight from persecution of a Burmese family to Malaysia before being resettled in Perth, will be shown at the Margaret River Community Centre this Sunday afternoon.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker, Dr Marilyn Metta.
Dr Metta is an academic in anthropology, sociology and human rights at Curtin University and the founder of Mettamorphosis Inc., a not-for-profit organisation working to support the education of stateless children and young people.
“The film and the various awards are a tribute to the Ni Chin family, who inspired us and the audience with their extraordinary courage, dignity and resilience, and their bravery in sharing their personal stories to raise awareness of the plight of so many displaced people,” said Dr Metta.
“We made this film on a tiny budget and with two crew members, but with enormous amounts of passion and faith. This was simply a story we had to tell.”
Like the Rohingya, the Chin are a Burmese ethnic minority who have suffered extreme religious persecution at the hands of the military government.
The film tells in their own voices the experiences of young people and families finding themselves stateless after being forced to abandon their homes.
A display of photos taken by refugee children who have fled Mynanmar (Burma) entitled Keeping Dreams Alive will also be on show at the Community Centre.
Images from the Keeping Dreams Alive photovoice display depict the lives of the refugee children in their temporary homes in Kuala Lumpur as they wait for a humanitarian visa.
Dr Metta will also hold a school presentation and film screening with Year 9 students at Margaret River Senior High School next week.
How I Became a Refugee will screen at the Margaret River Community Centre this Sunday October 21 from 4.30pm – 6.00pm.
A gold coin donation is requested, with afternoon tea provided. All money raised will go towards keeping the most vulnerable children in the community in school, and providing much needed educational resources.
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Margaret River Mail
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