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| 'We are all going to die': film captures the cries of a little girl seeking asylum 'We are all going to die': film captures the cries of a little girl seeking asylum | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| The lifejacket was all the luggage he carried, and everything he owned, but Mohammed Alenezi felt the girl crouched in front of him needed it more. | The lifejacket was all the luggage he carried, and everything he owned, but Mohammed Alenezi felt the girl crouched in front of him needed it more. |
| She could not have been older than 10, and was clearly terrified. | She could not have been older than 10, and was clearly terrified. |
| In the middle of the storm, as the rain beat down upon the decks, and the waves crashed over the sides of the ageing fishing boat shanghaied for the purpose of a passage to Australia, the girl – one of 117 people crossing from Java to Christmas Island seeking asylum – cried out in fear. | In the middle of the storm, as the rain beat down upon the decks, and the waves crashed over the sides of the ageing fishing boat shanghaied for the purpose of a passage to Australia, the girl – one of 117 people crossing from Java to Christmas Island seeking asylum – cried out in fear. |
| Her name was Maryam. | Her name was Maryam. |
| “Everybody was afraid,” Mohammed says of that day “She was crying and screaming and she said ‘we are all going to die’. So I gave her my lifejacket. I put it on her, even though it was too big. It was all I had. | “Everybody was afraid,” Mohammed says of that day “She was crying and screaming and she said ‘we are all going to die’. So I gave her my lifejacket. I put it on her, even though it was too big. It was all I had. |
| “I held her and I told her that it would keep her safe, that we were going to be OK, that we would survive.” | “I held her and I told her that it would keep her safe, that we were going to be OK, that we would survive.” |
| The next morning, as the sun re-emerged, Maryam remained unconvinced. With conditions becalmed, Mohammed pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and began to film, short vignettes of those long unhappy hours on that crowded boat. | The next morning, as the sun re-emerged, Maryam remained unconvinced. With conditions becalmed, Mohammed pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and began to film, short vignettes of those long unhappy hours on that crowded boat. |
| When Maryam saw the phone, she saw futility. She asked Mohammed: “Why are you filming? We are all going to die.” | When Maryam saw the phone, she saw futility. She asked Mohammed: “Why are you filming? We are all going to die.” |
| “I was shocked,” Mohammed says. “I was upset to hear a small child talk like that. | “I was shocked,” Mohammed says. “I was upset to hear a small child talk like that. |
| “I told her that if we did drown, then the footage would be lost and it wouldn’t matter. But if we did survive, then we would be able to remember how we felt at this moment, how difficult it was, so we wouldn’t forget.” | “I told her that if we did drown, then the footage would be lost and it wouldn’t matter. But if we did survive, then we would be able to remember how we felt at this moment, how difficult it was, so we wouldn’t forget.” |
| They did not die. Their boat was intercepted by the Australian navy, and, after its pumps failed and it began to founder, every person on board was rescued and brought to Christmas Island. | They did not die. Their boat was intercepted by the Australian navy, and, after its pumps failed and it began to founder, every person on board was rescued and brought to Christmas Island. |
| Maryam made it. | Maryam made it. |
| Mohammed has not forgotten that time: the lifejacket and the little girl. | Mohammed has not forgotten that time: the lifejacket and the little girl. |
| “That 36 hours on that boat, that was a whole lifetime, it was like 36 years.” | “That 36 hours on that boat, that was a whole lifetime, it was like 36 years.” |
| He had been one of the few on board with a lifejacket. The people-smugglers had promised their clients they would be given lifejackets for the journey, but Mohammed was cynical enough not to believe them, and spent the bulk of his remaining money to buy his own one. Besides the phone in his pocket, it was the only thing he carried with him to Australia. | He had been one of the few on board with a lifejacket. The people-smugglers had promised their clients they would be given lifejackets for the journey, but Mohammed was cynical enough not to believe them, and spent the bulk of his remaining money to buy his own one. Besides the phone in his pocket, it was the only thing he carried with him to Australia. |
| Before he fled his increasingly unstable homeland of Iraq, Mohammed was an actor and visual artist, a graduate of the University of Basrah’s College of the Arts. He had performed, and also had his work exhibited, all over the country. He was forced to abandon his studio in Baghdad when it was no longer safe for him to continue to live there. | Before he fled his increasingly unstable homeland of Iraq, Mohammed was an actor and visual artist, a graduate of the University of Basrah’s College of the Arts. He had performed, and also had his work exhibited, all over the country. He was forced to abandon his studio in Baghdad when it was no longer safe for him to continue to live there. |
| Now, those snippets of footage shot on board that boat have become Mohammed’s latest project. | Now, those snippets of footage shot on board that boat have become Mohammed’s latest project. |
| He and mentor Ludwig El Haddad, a Lebanese-Australian filmmaker, performer and community arts facilitator, have created the short film, Why are you filming? We are all going to die. | He and mentor Ludwig El Haddad, a Lebanese-Australian filmmaker, performer and community arts facilitator, have created the short film, Why are you filming? We are all going to die. |
| Mohammed says the perspective from on board a boat is too-little seen, and too-rarely considered. | Mohammed says the perspective from on board a boat is too-little seen, and too-rarely considered. |
| “People think that getting on a boat is easy, that it was an easy choice to make. But I wanted to show people it was not easy, it was very dangerous, very terrifying. This was a hard thing to do. I was risking my life, because I had no other choice. I had to flee for my life.” | “People think that getting on a boat is easy, that it was an easy choice to make. But I wanted to show people it was not easy, it was very dangerous, very terrifying. This was a hard thing to do. I was risking my life, because I had no other choice. I had to flee for my life.” |
| The film shows Mohammed’s footage through five vertical panes. Ludwig says the presentation gives the impression of distance, of disconnect – like looking through the window of a plane, or the portholes of a ship. It reflects the remove that exists when asylum seekers are spoken about in Australian discourse. This film shows that distance, but from the other side. | The film shows Mohammed’s footage through five vertical panes. Ludwig says the presentation gives the impression of distance, of disconnect – like looking through the window of a plane, or the portholes of a ship. It reflects the remove that exists when asylum seekers are spoken about in Australian discourse. This film shows that distance, but from the other side. |
| “We see images of asylum seekers from a distance, from the navy, from the media, always from the other side, but we never see those boats from the perspective of people who are on them. We wanted to show with this film that asylum seekers are just people too. | “We see images of asylum seekers from a distance, from the navy, from the media, always from the other side, but we never see those boats from the perspective of people who are on them. We wanted to show with this film that asylum seekers are just people too. |
| “For the short time of this film – those few minutes – we want people to feel uncomfortable. No matter which side of the asylum-seeker debate people are on, we want them to know that feeling of what it is like on a boat. And to know that these are people too.” | “For the short time of this film – those few minutes – we want people to feel uncomfortable. No matter which side of the asylum-seeker debate people are on, we want them to know that feeling of what it is like on a boat. And to know that these are people too.” |
| Why are you filming? is part of a broader exhibition, Rihlat al-Shabab (Journey of the Youth), showcasing the film projects of five young Iraqi-Australian artists . The exhibition, on show at Sydney’s Fairfield Museum and Gallery until 20 April, is part of the Iraqi Youth Art project run by the Information and Cultural Exchange, which teams mentors with emerging young artists. | Why are you filming? is part of a broader exhibition, Rihlat al-Shabab (Journey of the Youth), showcasing the film projects of five young Iraqi-Australian artists . The exhibition, on show at Sydney’s Fairfield Museum and Gallery until 20 April, is part of the Iraqi Youth Art project run by the Information and Cultural Exchange, which teams mentors with emerging young artists. |
| Mohammed’s lifejacket is gone – thrown away by officials on board the Australian ship and replaced by a better one. | Mohammed’s lifejacket is gone – thrown away by officials on board the Australian ship and replaced by a better one. |
| “The one I bought, it was not very good,” he admits, “but it was everything I had”. | “The one I bought, it was not very good,” he admits, “but it was everything I had”. |
| And Maryam? | And Maryam? |
| Mohammed does not know where she is, or what has happened to her. She was travelling to Australia with her parents and infant brother, he says. And he saw her briefly in the Christmas Island detention centre when medical screenings were being done on the newly-arrived. They has spoken briefly then, but that was the last he had seen of her. | Mohammed does not know where she is, or what has happened to her. She was travelling to Australia with her parents and infant brother, he says. And he saw her briefly in the Christmas Island detention centre when medical screenings were being done on the newly-arrived. They has spoken briefly then, but that was the last he had seen of her. |
| “I hope she is OK. I hope she is doing well,” he says. | “I hope she is OK. I hope she is doing well,” he says. |