Helen Friends of Tasmanians for Refugees, L’ton
I AM pleased to forward news of the National Cinema Release for the film ‘Hope’ [ Amal Basry’s Story – Survivor of the sinking of the SIEVX ]
State Theatre Hobart June 19th – 25th. Details at: www.hopedocumentary.com.au
‘Hope’ … 400 people set out on a boat. Only 7 made it to Australia
Synopsis
Four hundred asylum seekers were pitched into the sea when their people smuggling boat from Indonesia sank on its way to Australia in 2001. Three hundred and fifty three people drowned. Only seven survivors made it to Australia.
Amal Basry, who had fled Iraq, was one of those survivors. She spent 22 hours in the ocean hanging on to a floating corpse, convinced that her son was dead and she was the only person left alive.
Controversy surrounded the sinking of the boat, which became known as the SIEV X (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel Unknown). In public, Amal became an advocate for the survivors. In private, she fought to reunite her fragmented family, cope with the personal consequences of the disaster and return to Indonesia to ‘find what I lost in the ocean’.
Reviews
“Whilst resonating with sadness and loss, Hope is an ultimately redemptive documentary.”
“Hope is the best type of documentary: activist without being preachy; simple without lacking complexity; effective – staggeringly so – without being gimmicky. It commanded – and rewarded – my whole attention.”
“The hope of Hope is that stories such as Amal’s will continue to be told – not for the sake of telling – but in the hope that through their telling something might change – if not today, then maybe tomorrow.”
‘Hope’ National Cinema Season
Extract
We are pleased to announce that Hope begins its national cinema release on 19th June. This is great news for everyone who has waited patiently for the film to be released to a general audience
… Needless to say, we are thrilled with this development in the journey of Hope through the world and we know that were she here, Amal would be too. But it’s an opportunity that we need all of you to get behind and support. It is particularly important that screenings during the first week of release are well attended. This will encourage the cinemas to keep the film on in good-sized theatres and keep their advertising going. So please forward this email to anyone you can think of and, for example, consider ways in which you might be able to organise small groups to attend. Cinemas continually complain that no-one goes to see Australian films – let’s prove them wrong with Hope!
… Hope to screen at UNHCR Refugee Film Festival in Tokyo, 26th June.
… Thanks again to everyone for your continuing support and interest in Hope. This is truly a community effort.
Flying Carpet Films email: [email protected]
