The Friday Film Series will begin its 2019 season at Armagh in June, spanning a whole range of concerns from the neighbourhood politics around a suburban Sydney park, to international refugee policy and Australia's detention of asylum seekers. It's time to mark your diaries!
Hope Road on 21 June
The film presents the story of Zacharia, a refugee from the Sudanese civil war. Now living in Sydney, Zacharia returns to visit his village inthe newly independent nation of South Sudan, and is fired with a vision to build a school for its children. As he undertakes a personal fundraising project that repeats his long walk out of Sudan, he encounters unforeseen problems.
Border Politics on 26 July
Human rights advocate Julian Burnside takes the viewer on a trip around the world to examine how Western countries treat refugees, and how Jordan, Greece and Mexico struggle under the weight of human movement in the 21st century. A longstanding critic of Australia's immigration detention policies, Burnside calls for upholding human rights and exercising political leadership.
Angels Gather Here on 30 August
Australian Aboriginal woman Jacki Trapman returns to her hometown of Brewarrina, a rural community in the outback region of New South Wales. Her parents' 60th anniversary becomes an occasion for reflecting on how life has changed for the family over the past five generations, and how government policies, past and present, affect them today. One viewer comment, 'Watching the film broughht the impact colonisation has had on Aboriginal people into real human terms, and makes it impossible to walk away without feeling an intense need to be part of reconciliation.'
'Our own firelight'
The film series began as a space for people associated with Armagh, the Initiatives of Change centre in Melbourne, to meet and discuss topical issues on which people may choose to take direct action.
Organizer and communications manager Delia Paul explained that the movie nights are a time not only for movie watching, but also for hearing from people closely involved in related issues. Past screening nights have featured visitors such as Sydney community leader Rosemarie Kariuki-Fyfe and Melbourne film director Steve Thomas. The film nights have also been occasions for sharing of experiences by the wider IofC fellowship, drawing on memories of challenges from times spent far afield: working with local communities around the Aboriginal township of Ramingining in Australia's Northern Territory; running development programs in Cambodia; and living in a refugee camp in Kenya.
'In a world where news and entertainment have become increasingly globalized, we believe we need to keep sharing our own stories, the truth of our own experiences, with each other,' explained Paul, who has organized the series every year since 2016.
'The films we screen are stories by Australians, but they are not only about Australia. They are stories about how we live with each other as part of a global community. Let us sit by our own firelight; let us be together.' - Delia Paul
All films screen at 7 pm and there is pizza available from 6.30 pm. A contribution of $15 is invited to cover expenses. For more information, contact Delia Paul.
An earlier version of this story included a 10 May screening of Our Park, which is now cancelled.