batoor a refugee journey

Batoor: A Refugee Journey

Barat Ali Batoor (Self)

Barat Ali Batoor

Barat Ali Batoor was once Afghanistan's most esteemed photographer working for the United States Embassy in Kabul. But in 2011, all this changed when The Washington Post published his potent photo essay exposing one of Afghanistan's darkest secrets -- the brutal trade in young dancing boys for the purposes of entertainment and forced prostitution. Distancing themselves from the ensuing controversy, Batoor was cut loose by his employers with no security. With death threats looming over his head, he allowed himself to be smuggled out of the country into dangerous territory, opening the door to the question of whether these agents serve a purpose in preserving human rights as well. He embarked on a journey that would see him cross three continents, be trafficked over multiple borders, survive a shipwreck in the open seas, become lost in the jungles of Indonesia, escape from imprisonment and spend months living undercover as an illegal immigrant before finally being granted refugee status in Australia. Remarkably, he photographed and filmed his entire journey, creating a stunning record of life spent on the run - in a dangerous world of asylum seekers, people smuggling and cross border trafficking. Through his first-person account, Batoor: A Refugee Journey retraces and revisits the sites and people from his journey, presenting the harrowing steps many refugees take in their pursuit of better lives.

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Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Online

Batoor: a refugee journey.

Film highlights refugee crisis

An epic journey to safety

Afghani photojournalist Barat Ali Batoor won a Walkley Award for the images he captured on his own refugee boat journey.

One of Afghanistan’s leading photographers, Batoor first won international acclaim in 2011 for his powerful photo essay exposing one of his country’s darkest secrets – the scandalous and brutal trade in young ‘dancing boys’ used for entertainment and prostitution.

But his work made him a target of the Taliban and the powerful warlords who control the evil trade. Forced to flee, he took refuge in the Pakistani city of Quetta. But with the targeted killings of Batoor’s own Hazara community on the rise in the city, he again became a target of assassins.

With imminent death threats against him, Batoor was forced to flee along an asylum seeker route taken by thousands before him.

He embarked on an epic journey that saw him traverse three continents, be people smuggled over multiple borders, survive a shipwreck in the open seas, become lost in the jungles of Indonesia, escape from imprisonment and spend months living undercover as an illegal immigrant.

Remarkably, Batoor recorded his entire journey, creating a compelling record of his own journey and the lives of asylum seekers in a perilous world of cross border trafficking and risky sea voyages.

Finally granted refugee status in Australia, the 37 year-old has retraced his 13-months journey creating a powerful account of his odyssey and turning his film footage and Walkley-winning images into a stunning 90 minute film.

‘Batoor: A Refugee Journey’ tells the harrowing story of one person’s struggle to find freedom and safety while also probing moral issues around human displacement, people smuggling and migration policy.

The film highlights the powerlessness and the precarious lives of the world’s 70 million displaced souls; and is an attempt to give a voice to the planet’s most vulnerable people.

Director Biography - Barat Ali Batoor

• Runtime 1 hour 27 mins
• Director Barat Ali Batoor

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Event details.

Presented on: Saturday 1 April 2023, 2.00pm - 4.15pm

Allan Scott Auditorium, Hawke Building, UniSA City West Campus, 55 North Terrace Adelaide MAP 

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Full details  

01 April 2023

Batoor: A Refugee Journey

Documentary screening & panel discussion.

Documentary Screening & Panel Discussion With Barat Ali Batoor

Join us for a screening of the poignant and touching documentary,  Batoor: A Refugee Journey by Walkley Award winning photojournalist, Barat Ali Batoor. Batoor: A Refugee Journey  follows Batoor’s path from Afghanistan through to Australia in search of safety and sanctuary.

Barat Ali Batoor was once Afghanistan’s most esteemed photographer working for the United States Embassy in Kabul. But in 2011, all this changed when  The Washington Post  published his potent photo essay exposing one of Afghanistan’s darkest secrets – the brutal trade in young ‘dancing boys’ for the purposes of entertainment and forced prostitution.

With death threats looming over his head, he embarked on a journey that would see him cross three continents. Remarkably, he photographed and filmed his entire journey - creating an insightful record of the dangerous world of asylum seekers, people smuggling and cross border trafficking. His film documents not only his journey but the lives of asylum seekers who make perilous journeys to escape persecution.  Batoor: A Refugee Journey also presents a life-affirming journey of courage and determination in the face of insurmountable odds, and is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Batoor was awarded 'Best Director' for his documentary film, and was also nominated for the 2021 Walkley Documentary Award. 

Batoor’s film will screen from 2pm - 3.30pm, followed by a Panel Discussion with  Barat Ali Batoor ,  Associate Professor Mary Anne Kenny - Murdoch University and University of South Australia and Professor Nicholas Procter  - University of South Australia.

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre   

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Trailer: batoor: a refugee journey.

Batoor: A Refugee Journey  documents Barat Ali Batoor's epic journey that saw him traverse three continents, be people smuggled over multiple borders, survive a shipwreck in the open seas, become lost in the jungles of Indonesia, escape from imprisonment and spend months living undercover as an illegal immigrant.

This is the harrowing story of one person’s struggle to find freedom and safety while also probing moral issues around human displacement, people smuggling and migration policy.

The film highlights the powerlessness and the precarious lives of the world’s 70 million displaced souls; and is an attempt to give a voice to the planet’s most vulnerable people. 

Barat Ali Batoor Photographer And Filmmaker

Barat Ali Batoor  is a multi award-winning photographer and filmmaker. His photographs were exhibited across the world including the U.S., Europe, Asia  and Australia.

His works have been published in  The Washington Post ,  Newsweek ,  New York Times ,  Wall Street Journal ,  The Guardian ,  Stern ,  India Today ,  Risk Magazine ,  The Global Mail ,  The Daily Mail ,  The West Australian ,  Strategic Review  and others.

He participated in “Lahore Artist Residency” by VASL in Lahore, Pakistan and was the 2009 recipient of a photography grant from New York’s Open Society Institute for the project “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan”. He is the winner of Nikon-Walkleys Photo of the Year 2013 award as well as a winner in the Photo Essay category. He was also awarded “Communication for Social Change Award” by the University of Queensland.

He was a speaker at the TEDxSydney in 2014.

Batoor’s documentary film  Batoor: A Refugee Journey  won an award for the ‘Best Director’ at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. The film was also nominated for the 2021 Walkley Documentary Award. Batoor currently works as an Organiser with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and teaches photojournalism at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Batoor is also the recipient of RMIT’s Dean award for an Exemplary Sessional Staff Member 2021. Batoor also spoke at the TEDxIIITV on the topic of ‘The struggle of Identity and Belonging’.

  Website: Barat Ali Batoor   @bbatoor

Associate Professor Mary Anne Kenny School Of Law, Murdoch University & Phd Candidate University Of South Australia

Associate Professor Mary Anne Kenny  is based at the School of Law, Murdoch University, and is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidate at the University of South Australia. Associate Professor Kenny teaches and researches in human rights, refugee, and immigration law. She is a legal practitioner and works closely with refugee non-government organisations and refugee communities. Her research interests lie in the intersection of refugee status determination and issues related to mental health. She was the Chair of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia between 2009–12; Chair of the Legal Sub Committee of the Joint Advisory Committee for Nauru Regional Processing Arrangements; and a member of the Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention between 2012–16.

  @maryannekenny  The Conversation Profile: Mary Anne Kelly

Professor Nicholas Procter Director: Mental Health And Suicide Prevention Research And Education Group, University Of South Australia

Professor Nicholas Procter  is the Director, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Research and Education Group, Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia. Professor Procter has longstanding research and education interests in trauma informed practice and suicide prevention for people of migrant and refugee backgrounds, including people with insecure visa status. He was the Chair of the Health Sub-Committee of the Joint Advisory Committee for Nauru Regional Processing Arrangements; a member of the Minister’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention; and an independent advisor to a Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Own Motion Investigation into Suicide and Self-Harm in the Immigration Detention Network. He has co-designed with government and community groups trauma-informed resources with people of refugee backgrounds, as well as for use during the COVID-19 pandemic, after bushfires, and in the context of forensic mental health and quality and safety in healthcare. Professor Procter is Australia’s National Representative to the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Council for National Representatives.

  @MHResearchUniSA  The Conversation Profile: Nicholas Procter

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre

Jacinta Thompson

Executive Director & Events and Exhibitions Producer

+61 (0)8 8302 0651   [email protected]

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Batoor A Refugee Journey Interview with Photojournalist and Filmmaker Barat Ali Batoor

19 jul 2021 · the curb.

The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival is always home to a plethora of great and varied documentaries from around the globe. This year, the festival will host the deep and moving documentary, Batoor: A Refugee Journey by Walkely Award winning photojournalist, Barat Ali Batoor. Batoor: A Refugee Journey follows Batoor's path from Afghanistan through to Australia in search of safety and sanctuary. This powerful film comes at a devastating point in Australian history, where the Australian government is actively denying the refuge of countless Afghani citizens who assisted the Australian armed forces in the war against the Taliban.

As mentioned in the interview, one of the support services that you can help by donating to is the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). The other action you can do to help is to head over and watch Batoor: A Refugee Journey and share Batoor's story with the world.

You can see Batoor: A Refugee Journey in Melbourne on July 22nd and August 1st, pending any further lockdown measures. Head to the MDFF website for more details.

Follow Barat Ali Batoor's Facebook page, and keep up to date with the festival via their Facebook page here.

Support The Curb on Patreon, and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Get in contact with us via our email.

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The Road to Patagonia Director Matty Hannon Talks About Living with the Land in This Interview

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As a young man, Matty Hannon explored the world, sinking roots in the Southeast Asian region. Here, he made lifelong friends, became part of families, and fostered a connection with the land that was ultimately severed when he had to return home to Australia to kick off a 'career'. The towering metal structures that became the home for his monotonous office life played a major role in an emerging mental illness that saw Matty at a crossroads: continue on with this corporate career life and possibly lose a sense of himself, or seek a future where he lives with, learns from, and embraces the land that we live alongside. 

So begins his Road to Patagonia, the title given to Matty's documentary about his journey from Alaska to Patagonia, a 50,000km trek that sees him encountering magnificent surfing locations, wildlife of all kinds, a bond with a group of horses who help on his journey, and a romance which changes his life. 

The Road to Patagonia is deliberately meditative film, and as such, it becomes a soothing experience as viewers learn from the people who live with the lands Matty and his partner Heather Hillier trek along. This is not some kind of 'white cultural tourist' narrative either, as Matty and Heather never seek to become saviours or people who co-opt the lifestyles of the people they meet, instead seeking to join the wavelength of the spiritual harmony that the people they meet exude. 

There's an optimism to The Road to Patagonia that comes across with the way Matty Hannon talks about his life. In the following interview, Matty talks about the challenges he faced making the film, and what he has been able to implement into his modern life in the Byron Bay region. 

The Road to Patagonia and Matty Hannon are heading around Australia on a national tour until 19 April 2024. Head over to the Facebook page for more details. https://garage.com.au/the-road-to-patagonia/#:~:text=Synopsis,between%20humanity%20and%20the%20Earth.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Curb podcast. To help keep the Curb independent, visit patreon.com/thecurbau to show your support from as little as $1 a month.

The Deepest Breath Composer Nainita Desai On the Art of Composing for Documentaries

Nainita Desai is an award-winning composer whose work has spanned creative formats, from documentaries like The Reason I Jump where she won an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition, to TV series like Funny Women, to video games like Telling Lies and Immortality. With over 150 credits to her name, Nainita is nothing short of prolific.

In the following interview, Nainita talks about her journey into becoming a composer and how Peter Gabriel impacted her career. While we don't touch on her education in mathematics, it plays a vital role in her career as a composer, guiding her interest in sound design as well as composition. From here, our discussion leads into talking about the role of nature in her work, as heard in films like The Deepest Breath, and the 2024 Sundance award-winning film Nocturnes. In both of these films, the role of the ocean and the mountains is as important as the world of the people we are following, and Nainita talks about the way that she reflects those characters journeys in her compositions.

Equally important is the role that silence plays in her work. Nainita talks about the role that silence plays as the unspoken instrument for a composer, and how important it is to relinquish the score to amplify the drama of a scene. As a flow on of this discussion point, Nainita talks about the difficulty of knowing that not all aspects of her score will end up in the final film.

This wonderfully insightful conversation flows between creativity and personal journeys, with Nainita giving us an in depth look at the mind of a composer. This conversation was recorded ahead of Nainita's upcoming appearance at the Australian International Documentary Conference, which opens in Melbourne on 3 March 2024. Nainita will be presenting a discussion called The Art of Composing for Documentary with Nainita Desai, alongside moderator Emma Bortignon. As we close out this interview, I asked Nainita about the importance of being accessible for interviews and panel discussions, which leads Nainita to reflect on the role of being a mentor for emerging composers, particularly women composers. To find out more about AIDC, visit AIDC.com.au.

If you enjoy this discussion, I urge you to seek out other interviews with Nainita as they have regularly been in depth and valuable insights into her art as a composer. Also visit her website nainitadesai.com for more information.

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Daniel Monks Talks Through His Career From Pulse to In the Room Where He Waits in This Interview

Daniel Monks is an award winning theatre and film actor who hails from Perth, Western Australia. He received an AACTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the feature film Pulse, a story about a disabled teen who undergoes radical surgery to turn into a beautiful woman in a bid to be loved and embraced. Daniel wrote the script and worked with his close friend, Stevie Cruz-Martin, as a director. It's a film that helped launch his career as an actor in both Australia and London , where he has performed opposite Emilia Clarke in The Seagull, and where he won the Best Performer in a Play award at The Stage Debut Awards for his turn in Teenage Dick, Michael Lew's darkly comedic retelling of Richard III.

When I first watched Pulse, I saw an actor who brought a complicated and conflicted character to life on screen with deep empathy and understanding. We open the discussion by talking about the origins of Pulse, leading Daniel to reflect on the almost ten-year journey between that film being shot and now. In that decade-long career path, Daniel has also starred in Australian films like Sissy, and Timothy Despina Marshall's new film, In the Room Where He Waits.

His place in the world of theatre and film as a gay, disabled actor has seen him become a leader in his field, forging a path for his fellow queer and disabled actors. We talk about the weight of responsibility that often comes with the role of being a leader, while also touching on the push for diversity on stage and on screen, and how Daniel navigates that when it's often driven by non-disabled, cisgender, straight, white people.

As you'll hear in the following interview, Daniel is a 'bucket list' interview guest I've been eager to talk with for years. I was fortunate to chat with Daniel's mum, Annie Murtagh-Monks, a few years ago about her work as a casting director, so it was quite wonderful to hear about the conversations that she has with Daniel about their work. Daniel also talks about the support that filmmakers like Stevie Cruz-Martin and Hannah Barlow have given him throughout his career.

I recorded this ahead of the world premier of In the Room Where He Waits at the QueerScreen Mardi Gras Film Festival, where it received Queer Screen Completion Funding. This stunning drama sees Daniel play the role of Tobin, an actor who slips back home to Australia for his father's funeral. As he waits out his two week quarantine period, he is haunted by the presence of the previous tenant in the room. This riveting film sees Daniel command the screen in a way that will have you leaning on the edge of your seat - not because of how tense the film is, but simply because of how compelling Daniel is to watch. The film will no doubt screen down the line at other festivals, so please keep an eye out for it.

This is a long, deep dive discussion which I'm proud to be able to share with you all. Make sure to seek out Pulse, Sissy, In the Room Where He Waits, and visit National Theatre At Home to view The Seagull.

Carl Joseph Papa Talks About How Richard Linklater Influenced His Rotoscoped Animation The Missing in This Interview

Writer-director Carl Joseph Papa's The Missing follows Eric (Carlo Aquino), a young man who lives alone, maintains a crush on his coworker Carlo (Gio Gahol), and has a strong bond with his mother Rosalinda (Dolly De Leon). Rosalinda's request for Eric to check in on his uncle who they haven't heard from in some time coincides with the presence of an alien. These unexpected events cause Eric's repressed memories of trauma from his childhood to reemerge, amplifying the other aspect of his life that's causing him alarm: he's starting to lose body parts. When we first meet Eric, his mouth is missing, and then as his hold on life and reality starts to slip, other parts of his body start to go missing: an ear, a hand, and more.

Narratively, The Missing is a layered and emotional experience that resonates long after the credits have rolled, but it's how Carl and his creative team use the form of rotoscope animation to create tonal and thematic layers to Eric's story that makes it all the more memorable. Eric's life is presented in a Richard Linklater-esque style of animation, but as his memories of his youth come back, they're presented with a childlike animation that represents the discovering of a creative identity. Carl then uses a smothering black border that creeps in on those memories as Eric's traumatic events stifle that sense of self and creativity that would otherwise have flourished. Equally, Carl uses the open possibilities of animation to reflect Eric's missing body parts: his hand gets replaced by a glitching png image, file not found.

While animation is an open playground for creative minds, it's rarely utilised to explore the aspects of humanity and our inner-self in a way that live-action filmmaking simply cannot do. The Missing then becomes a truly unique experience that lingers because of its creativity and honesty.

In the following interview, I ask Carl about where that creativity comes from, how his journey into filmmaking began, and on honouring the survivors of trauma and abuse in his work. The Missing is screening at the QueerScreen Mardis Gras Film Festival on Wednesday 21 February 2024. 

Carissa Lee Talks About Navigating Barriers in the Australian Arts System in This Interview

Carissa Lee is a Noongar actor and writer whose work spans from critical analysis, to theatre, to the new ABC Kids series, Planet Lulin, where she plays Principal Cruz. Carissa's critical work has appeared in publications like Kill Your Darlings, IndigenousX, and Witness Performance, where her writing examined culture and the arts through an Indigenous lens. In her must read piece on Kill Your Darlings, How Acting Saved My Life, she talks about the complexity that comes with navigating class barriers both off and on stage.

In the following interview, I asked Carissa about her journey into acting and how her writing has informed her work as an actor. I'm lucky with the array of people I get to interview and talk about their work with, but this chat with Carissa was a particularly enjoyable one given the way we discuss her writing and acting, while ultimately asking the question about what our national cultural identity really is. As we yarn about Carissa's work, the conversation sways into talking about identity and the expectations to become a spokesperson for your community, especially as organisations, the arts community, and society as a whole pushes towards greater 'diversity' in their workplaces.

My concept of diversity is vastly different from the singular mindset that much of society has of diversity. I'm a disabled writer, and have been open about how I live with a disability in my workplace, but it's important to note that my disability is non-visible, and as such, I can't speak for the entirety of the disabled community when it comes to talking about what our lives are like. My life is vastly different from those who live with visible disabilities, yet, because I'm part of that community, I'm almost expected to talk on behalf of all disabled people. This is part of the conversation that arises, where we discuss touch on the societal expectations that come with that push towards diversity.

Elsewhere, Carissa talks about what having a supportive teacher meant to her growing up, the manner that regional accents are massaged out of actors during training, and the work of Andrew Bovell, in particular his play Holy Day, which played a major role in Carissa's work as an actor. We also talk about the joy of a kids show like Planet Lulin, which is an absolute delight and sees actors like Lisa McCune dressing up in weird and wacky costumes and simply having the best time. It's the kind of show I wish I had growing up.

I hope you enjoy this discussion with Carissa as much as I enjoyed running it. Read Carissa's writing here: How Acting Saved My Life and Nostalgia for a Better Future.

To find out more about Carissa's work, follow her on Instagram @_carissalee or on Twitter @CarissaLeeG.

Robert Connolly on Why Force of Nature Was His Hardest Film Shoot Yet in This Interview

Robert Connolly is one of Australia's great modern directors, having exploded onto the film scene some twenty years ago with The Bank, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the AFI awards, which he swiftly followed up with an impressive body of work that includes Paper Planes, The Turning, Balibo, Blueback, and the 2021 adaptation of Jane Harper's best seller, The Dry.

That film, which featured Eric Bana as Detective Aaron Falk, set the box office afire in 2021 alongside High Ground and Penguin Bloom, with the trio making Australian film history as the first time that three Aussie flicks topped the local box office. Given the success of The Dry, it made sense that Connolly and Bana would return to Jane Harper's Falk series with the second novel, Force of Nature. Where The Dry focused on a murder mystery in the middle of nowhere, Force of Nature takes Detective Falk to the Grampians to try and find missing business woman Alice (Anna Torv). Alice did not return with her colleagues (Deborra-Lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell) after a hiking retreat, raising suspicion and concern. With heavy rains on the way, time is of the essence to find Alice before it's too late.

While Force of Nature operates in the thriller genre, with Connolly harkening back to The Bank with a subplot about manipulative financial institutions, it is better approached as a character study of people under pressure. Falk's return to the Grampians sees him recalling his youth when his mother also went missing in the same area, and it's here that Force of Nature lingers into an examination of what family means in difficult times. Eric Bana has found a character he can comfortably slip into with Detective Aaron Falk, a figure who sits alongside Detective Jay Swan and Jack Irish as a compelling investigator getting to the bottom of a mystery. It helps that Bana is comfortably supported by a reliable cast, including the always great Anna Torv who owns the film, the welcome presence of Robin McLeavy who gives a subdued and powerful performance, and solid performances from newcomers Sisi Stringer and Lucy Ansell.

Curiously, even though I've been interviewing Australian filmmakers for almost a decade now, this is the first time I've had a chat with Robert Connolly. I'd previously aimed to catch up with him on the media trail for The Dry or Blueback, but circumstances meant that this was our first time chatting. As I joined the Zoom meeting, Robert immediately noticed the vast array of blurays and DVDs that sit behind me, pointing out the Agnes Varda Criterion Collection. Our conversation starts there, and ferrets through different avenues of discussion, weaving in and out about Robert's work as a filmmaker, what it means to support emerging talent in the way he does as an executive producer with films like Alena Lodkina's Petrol, Sari Braithwaite's Because We Have Each Other, and Jub Clerc's Sweet As, before we settle on discussing why Force of Nature is the hardest shoot he's embarked on yet.

Force of Nature launches in Australian cinemas from 8 February 2024, and if there's one reason to see it on the big screen, it's to become overwhelmed by Andrew Commis' immersive cinematography. No doubt if this one does well that we'll see Robert adapting the third and final Falk book, Exiles, down the line.

If you like what we do here at The Curb, then make sure to listen to other interviews at TheCurb.com.au, and help keep The Curb independent by joining our Patreon from as little as $1 a month at Patreon.com/thecurbau. 

Patricia Clarkson Talks About Working Alongside Trace Lysette in the LGBTIQA+ Drama Monica in This Interview

For as long as I've been a devotee of cinema, I've followed the career of Patricia Clarkson. Patricia is a genuine queen of the screen, featuring in films like The Station Agent, Far From Heaven, The Green Mile, and Pieces of April, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Her latest films is the magnificent drama film Monica, featuring Trace Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) who plays the titular character, a trans woman who poses as a support worker to visit her dying mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson). Due to Eugenia's abusive nature, Monica left the family years ago, only to be drawn back into the fold by her sister-in-law, Laura (Emily Browning), to make amends with her mother.

Unresolved trauma hovers under the surface of Monica's exterior, with Trace Lysette delivering a performance that stuns with its authenticity and complexity, and when she shares the screen with Patricia Clarkson, the film truly soars. Director Andrea Pallaoro, alongside co-writer Orlando Tirado, has crafted a masterful trans narrative which was part of a landmark year of LGBTIQA+ cinema in 2023.

In the above interview, Patricia talks about her work throughout the years, the importance of celebrating and championing queer voices, and the joy of working alongside Trace Lysette.

Monica screens at the upcoming Mardis Gras Queer Screen festival, running in cinemas in Sydney from 15-29 February 2024, with select films heading online for on demand screenings across Australia from 1-11 March 2024. Tickets can be purchased at QueerScreen.com.au. The festival features an array of panel discussions including chats about Queer Tropes and Trauma on Screen, Films That Made You Feel Seen, and more, alongside a wide array of features, documentaries, and short films, including All of Us Strangers, Mutt, The Missing, Isla's Way, The People's Joker, Kokomo City, a celebration of the work of John Waters with a screening of Female Trouble, and even a sing-along of The Sound of Music. There's something for everyone.

Monica screens at Queer Screen on Tuesday 27 February 2024. 

Sundance Interview - The Moogai Cinematographer Sean Ryan Talks About Crafting Tension on Screen for this Aboriginal Horror Film

Jon Bell's unsettling 2021 short film, The Moogai, receives the feature film treatment with his 2024 horror of the same name. Making its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, The Moogai follows in the steps of other Australian horror films (Talk to Me, Relic, You Won't Be Alone) to have left their mark at the fest.

It follows the story of Indigenous couple Sarah (Shari Sebbens) and Fergus (Meyne Wyatt) as they welcome their new child into the world. However, Sarah's birth is a traumatic one, with her dying on the table, leading her to be revived in a horrifying manner. Back at home and still rattled from her birthing experience, Sarah endures another torturous event in the guise of a malevolent spirit that wants to take her baby: the moogai.

Jon Bell explores the traumatic history of the Stolen Generation in The Moogai, layering in Aboriginal myths and legends, alongside the complexity that comes with Aboriginal kids being raised by white parents, as we see with the character of Sarah. Her culture has been pushed out of her, replaced with a level of sceptisism and distrust towards her Aboriginal heritage. When her birth mother Ruth (a powerful and riveting performance from Tessa Rose) tries to help ward off the spirit with ochre and snake skins, Sarah outwardly rejects her, allowing the spirit to further take hold of her life.

The Moogai is frequently tense and unnerving, which is thanks in part to the work of cinematographer Sean Ryan. Sean worked with Jon on the short film, and in doing so, the two have crafted a visual style that amplifies the haunting aspects of the Australian landscape. In the following interview with Sean, recorded while he attends the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Sean talks about creating that tension on screen, about how he chose to present the Australian landscape, and while skirting spoilers, talking about how he shot the fiery climax of the film which sees characters surrounded by a circle of flames as smoke encompasses them in the darkness of the night. It is a memorable finale.

While The Moogai does not have a release date as of yet, it will not doubt reach Australian audiences sometime during 2024.

Read the interview with Jon Bell here.

We will be bringing you more coverage from the Sundance Film Festival over the end of January. All of the work at The Curb is independently produced and relies on the support of our brilliant community over at Patreon. To help keep The Curb independent, visit Patreon.com/TheCurbAU, and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Bad Vibrations Writer/Director Nicole Delprado and Annabel Maclean Talking About Flickerfest and Creating Tension with a Theramine in This Interview

Australian horror is experiencing something of a renaissance at the moment with the box office boom of Talk to Me, and the critical success of Godless, Monolith, You'll Never Find Me, Birdeater, and so many more. As we leave 2023 in the dust and we head into 2024, we want to start the year by continuing this celebration of ocker horror with the new short film Bad Vibrations, which makes its world premiere at Flickerfest on Saturday January 20 in the Best of Australian Shorts bunch. Writer/Director Nicole Delprado brings this one-shot horror flick to life, where one housemate (Erica Long) gifts the other housemate (Annabel Maclean) a music book for her to play on her theramine. As she plays one of the songs, she unknowingly summons a demonic force in their house.

In the following interview, Nicole and Annabel talk about how they met each other and where the idea of using a theramin as a source of terror came from (shout out to Moog Synthesizers for their support to Bad Vibrations). They also explore how they plotted out the path of the one shot with cinematographer Stephanie Furdek, alongside the other creative challenges they faced with the format. It's clear through this interview that both Nicole and Annabel have an immense amount of support and enthusiasm for each others work which adds to their support for the film community around them. Across the deep dive discussion, we also talk about the place of Australian horror in the future, as well as how they both see themselves in the emerging landscape of Australian filmmaking creatives.

Bad Vibrations is an inventive and entertaining horror short that shows a group of emerging Australian creatives on the rise.

To buy tickets to see Bad Vibrations at Flickerfest, visit Flickerfest.com.au. To find out more about Nicole's work, visit NicoleDelprado.com.au.

The First Episode of 2024

Christmess Writer/Director Heath Davis Talks About Creating His Best Film Yet in This Interview

Aussie indie filmmaker powerhouse Heath Davis is back with his fourth feature film, Christmess. This seasonally appropriate flick follows on fom his grounded work with his solid debut film Broke, in 2016. Heath quickly followed this up with the black comedy Book Week, before swerving into thriller territory with Locusts.

Here we follow washed up alcoholic actor Chris Flint - the never better Steve Le Marquand - who's getting out of rehab just in time for Christmas. He arrives at the halfway house run by Nick - a phenomenal turn from Darren Gilshenan - only to meet a fellow recovering addict Joy - played by Middle Kids lead singer Hannah Joy. Together they aim to make the best Christmas they can have, while also getting Chris onto the path of some kind of normal.

Christmess sees Heath at his very best, showing a drive and fight for indie storytelling here in Australia that we would usually attribute to that of the American indie filmmakers. There's a sense of honest Australiana at work here as the heat of a summer Christmas adds to the drama of day to day life.

While Christmess skews towards drama more than it does comedy, it adheres to the Heath Davis mindset of seeing the best in people and setting about to write a film that allows the actors to bring that out in the most natural and genuine way possible. As a trio, Steve Le Marquand, Darren Gilshenan, and Hannah Joy are so completely watchable and engaging that you start to feel like you're home.

Christmess recently had its world debut at the Austin Film Festival, receiving wide acclaim from filmmakers and audiences alike. Now Heath has headed out on the road, like every hard working indie filmmaker has to, with the film being received by sell-out audiences. The following interview sees Heath touching on that communal experience of cinema, while also discussing his working relationship with Steve, Darren, and Hannah.

Christmess is a seasonal treat, and as it stands, it's one of the very best Australian Christmas films yet.

To find out more about where Christmess is screening near you, visit the Facebook page for more details.

Isla's Way Director Marion Pilowsky Talks About the Importance of Seeing the Story of an 87-Year-Old Woman in a Cinema in This Interview

Much of what I do with The Curb is in a bid to shine a light on voices that may not often get the chance to be heard. That mindset carries through with director Marion Pilowsky's tenderly empathetic and joyfully curious documentary Isla's Way. Here we meet Isla Roberts.

Isla isn't a lesbian. She's not a lezzo. She's not a dyke. She's just Isla Roberts.

She lives with her 'friend' Susan and throughout the course of the film we hear their stories. Isla is persistent and resilient, living for her country and the ponies she rides with. She's shaped by the land and the land has shaped her soul and world view.

In reflecting on the past, we see the way Australia has changed and shifted thanks to the women of the nation. Isla is a proud feminist, and her efforts to ensure that the women of the region are supported in their endeavours is rewarded by having a street named after her.

Isla talks about a man she meets in a supermarket who has a broken back. He sees her hugging a friend and he asks 'What does one need to do to get a hug like that?' Isla's response is a tender one, outlining the process of how a hug works. It's that kind of physicality that feels like is missing in the bond between Susan and Isla. While some things change, Isla's mindset about how sexuality doesn't. Susan clearly loves Isla, and Isla loves Susan, but that love exists outside of labels.

Isla's Way is a frank and open film, yet never a dour one, with natural comedy emerging throughout Isla's story. It suggests a transference of the ages. Isla talks about her wedding taking place in the registration office, where she misremembers briefly an absent husband (her now deceased partner Allen), meanwhile a wedding with her grandson takes place in a field surrounded by friends and family. Elsewhere Isla recalls the last time she saw her twin sister before she passed away. Later, twin great-grandchildren are born.

The warmth of the past lights the way for time to move forward. Isla knows she will die soon, and so be that when it happens, but she also knows that her actions now will leave a mark. She talks about the collective actions of women and how men would never group together to organise a pony club where disabled folk can ride. She's right too.

I'm grateful to know Isla. I feel many others will be too. I look forward to spending time with her again in the future with this gem of a film. I cherish these kinds of films completely. They're part of what makes us who we are.

Equally so, I cherished the chance to be able to talk with Marion about the making of Isla's Way, and what her experience with getting to know Isla and her extended family was like. We talk about the importance of telling stories that are 'unsexy' or not attractive for funding bodies, and the power of seeing an 87-year old woman on a cinema screen.

Isla's Way is currently making its way around Australia after its debut at the 2023 Adelaide Film Festival. Please do yourself a favour and make time for Isla's story. Thank me and Marion later.

Cat Person Director Susanna Fogel Talks About Presenting the Grey Area of Modern Dating on Screen in This Interview

When the short story Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian was published in The New Yorker in 2017, it immediately went viral with readers resonating with the way modern day dating can quickly turn toxic. It's a compelling place for director Susanna Fogel to build from with her adaptation of the short story, scripted by Michelle Ashford.

Here, Cat Person follows Emilia Jones' Margot, a ticket person at a cinema in America. She awkwardly encounters Robert, played by Nicholas Braun, and eventually the two start dating. He tells her that he owns cats, and outwardly seems like a pleasant individual, but as the relationship continues and Margot visits his house, she realises: there are no cats.

Meanwhile, Margot's friend Taylor, played by Geraldine Viswanathan, is ringing verbal alarm bells over Robert. Is he the man he actually appears to be? Or, is there something nefarious at play?

This tension builds to a masterfully staged sex scene between Margot and Robert which presents the action of consent playing out.

In the following interview with Susanna Fogel, she talks about the grey area of tension that exists within Cat Person, as well as the journey of adapting the text to the screen.

Cat Person launches in Australian cinemas on November 23.

Scott Hicks Talks About Exploring The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process in This Interview

Scott Hicks is an Academy Award nominated director, with his Best Picture nominated film Shine bringing his work to international attention, alongside the work of the films subject, pianist David Helfgott.

We're now some twenty-six years removed from the release of Shine, and the echoes of its impact continues to resonate within the creative minds of those who have become vessels for music. In Scott's latest film, The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process, he explores just how that well of creativity is tapped into as he follows the lives and stories of four interconnected artists.

First is David Helfgott, the centrepoint for each figure and a vital creative force who encourages, inspires, and energises those around him. Moments with his wife, the late Gillian Helfgott, show a supportive, nurturing relationship at work; one where Gillian sees the brilliance of David's mind and the manner that it operates and navigates his path of musicality.

Then we meet the man who as a boy played the role of a young David Helfgott's hands in Shine: Simon Tedeschi. Simon is a genius in his own right, and with his story we hear how he navigated the complicated reality of being labeled a 'child prodigy', while also exploring the fractious state he was left in due to that level of reverence.

We then flow into the orbit of another youthful genius mind, Daniel Johns. For many, we came to know Daniel through Silverchair, the iconic Australian band that worked with David Helfgott on their magnificent opus 'Emotion Sickness'. Daniel's story is one full of deep complexity. Here is a man who daily tries to grapple with what it means to be a creative entity. Like Simon, it's a complicated state to be in, and not one that Daniel himself fully understands as he sees himself as a conduit for the music, rather than being a musician himself.

Finally, swirling into the orbit and feeling the tonal resonance of Shine play out in his own life, is Ben Folds. We see his Adelaide home and hear how his creativity moves forward in unexpected ways. In one awe-inspiring sequence, we see Folds train a captive audience in how to harmonise both together and separately, creating an aural experience that encompasses your heart as you hear it play out.

These four figures - David, Simon, Daniel, Ben - each create a layer of a symphony that is tied together by the conductor Scott Hicks. The Musical Mind is a powerful and fascinating exploration of creativity and how important it is for it to be nourished and nurtured by those who see it emerging within individuals.

In the following interview, recorded ahead of the films release on November 23, Scott talks about how his own creative mind works, how the sense of dreaming plays out when he's making a film, and what it means to be a filmmaker in Adelaide.

Bromley: Light After Dark - David & Yuge Bromley and Director Sean McDonald Chat About Creating a Space for Open Vulnerability in This Interview

Every so often a presence swirls into our lives in an unexpected manner and changes it just a little bit. For many Australians, whether they be wealthy or not-so-wealthy, that presence is David Bromley. Here is a celebrated artist whose work features on the walls of galleries and private art collectors, while the same artwork adorns cologne labels, reusable water bottles, and more. 

As mentioned in Sean McDonald's raucous and energetic documentary Bromley: Light After Dark, in Australian cinemas from today, David's work gives people hope, and hope is not something that should be restrained for those who want to access it by how much money is in your bank account. What this means for Bromley as an artist is that his work is everywhere. His critics would say he's overproduced and mass marketed, while his supporters - myself being one of them - would say that he's making high art accessible to all.

Either way you look at it, a David Bromley art piece is a slice of his personality, and through Bromley: Light After Dark that we get to see that personality writ large on the cinema screen. Here is a person that's larger than life, full of energy, and supported by a loving family who champion his work and give his mind the space to be what it is: an ever roaming, occasionally anxious, place of darkness that, thanks to a wealth of soul-searching and self-realisation, has been splashed with enough bright paint that it has become a source of lightness and joy. It is, quite simply, the light after dark. 

There's an openness and a frankness to David Bromley as a person that encourages people in his orbit - and that includes the audience watching this documentary - to feel ok about sharing who they are as people. Watching Bromley: Light After Dark made my partner and I feel seen in an way that precious few films have made us feel. In one sequence, David and his wife Yuge drive a roller over his artwork to create a weathered aesthetic. It's one of the many moments that show creativity let loose. It's bloody energetic and entertaining, and it's done by two people who love and support each other in their creative endeavours.

Thanks to the work that I do with The Curb, I get to chat or write about the plentiful creative minds that exist within Australia. I'm always in awe of their creative spirit, and how people manage to express themselves in a country that sometimes wilfully rejects creativity. For creative souls, there is a need to pour yourself into your work, and that need comes with a wealth of vulnerability. Allowing the melding of a creative mind like a documentarian to play with that vulernability amplifies that openness even more. It's that line of questioning which I put forward to Sean McDonald, David and Yuge Bromley in the following interview. 

As you'll hear, giving David a brief questions opens up a well of ideas and possibly responses. There is a level of generosity that comes with his answers, and I'm grateful that I was able to discuss his work with him. 

The following interview was recorded on the day of the Optus outage, so there are some occasional audio blips, but the essence of the discussion is still there. I begin by talking about the film with Sean, followed by the arrival of David who brings his own perspectives.

Bromley: Light After Dark is cinemas from today and deserves to be seen on the big screen. To listen to previous interviews, visit TheCurb.com.au.

A Savage Christmas Director Madeleine Dyer Talks About Crafting a Comedic Aussie Christmas in This Interview

Madeleine Dyer is a writer, actor, director, and producer, whose body of work includes the 2017 comedy series Sexy Herpes, the acclaimed comedy series Colin from Accounts, where she worked with her sister Harriet Dyer, and now her latest film, A Savage Christmas, out in cinemas on 16 November 2023.

A Savage Christmas tells the story of the Savage family as they meet for a sweaty summer Christmas in Queensland. After years of estrangement, trans woman Davina, played by Thea Raveneua, returns home with her partner Kane, played by co-writer Max Jahufer. Davina's well meaning parents, James (played by David Roberts) and Brenda (played by Helen Thomson), are still coming to terms with her transition and in a distinictly Aussie boomer-ish fashion, they struggle to understand the importance of pronouns and transitioning.

Davina naturally expects her transition to be the focus of the family dinner, but her brother Jimmie Jr (Ryan Morgan) brings a cyclone of disruption along his way with a looming debt he needs to pay to a gangster (played by Gary Sweet). Thrown into the mix is their sister, Leila (Rekha Ryan), who is yet to tell her family about the imminent divorce she's going through. Chuck a dodgy Uncle Dick (Darren Gilshenan) and a frail Pomeranian into the mix and you've got your regular old Aussie Christmas.

A Savage Christmas is a ridiculously funny and brilliantly scripted comedy that feels like a breath of fresh air. Performances across the board are exceptional, with Thea Raveneua and Max Jahufer both giving stellar debut turns. Hopefully we see more from them in the future. Equally great is Ryan Morgan who manages to bring a level of compassion to a familar character-type, while screen legends David Roberts, Helen Thomson, and Darren Gilshenan balance the bonkers with the grounded.

In the above interview, Madeleine talks about the creation of the script with co-writers Max Jahufer and Daniel Mulvihill, what it means to be able to present an authentic Queensland summer on screen, and how she intends to forge a career in comedy on screen in Australia.

To listen to other episodes, visit www.TheCurb.com.au.

Bird Drone Director Radheya Jegatheva Talks About Perth Sunsets and Seagulls in This Interview

Radheya Jegatheva is a Perth based filmmaker. His work includes the award winning short Pacing the Pool, about Perth local Richard Pace, and The Quiet, an animated film about an astronaut contemplating existence.

His latest short animated film, Bird Drone, is a collaboration with writer Clare Toonen and producer Hannah Ngo. It tells the story of a seagull who finds an unexpected connection with a human-operated drone. Presented in a striking painterly style, this animation features a wonderful use of natural sound design by Keith Thomas.

In the following interview, Radheya talks about the collaborative process of working with Clare and Hannah, what it means to work alongside his father, Jay Jay Jegathesan, an accomplished performer in his own right, and what Radheya's interest in animation is.

Bird Drone has screened at the Academy Award qualifying Warsaw International Film Festival, and will screen at the upcoming Joy House Film Festival on 12 November in Sydney.

To find out more about the film, visit here and to read other reviews and listen to interviews, visit TheCurb.com.au.

Damage Director Madeleine Blackwell Talks About Working Alongside Ali Al Jenabi to Bring This Story of Humanity to Life in This Interview

With her delicate and gentle drama Damage, director Madeleine Blackwell has crafted a parable that layers grief, trauma, a sense of location and what it means to live away from home, and more into an emotionally enriching experience. Damage follows Ali, played by Ali Al Jenabi, a refugee in Australia using a friends taxi license to earn some small aspect of a living. As he drives the streets of Adelaide at night, he picks up Esther, played by Madeleine's mother Imelda Bourke.

Esther is a lost soul who's unsure of the name of where she needs to go, and certainly has no idea of how to get there. Equally so, Ali is unfamiliar with the streets, relying solely on a soulless GPS device to guide him where he needs to go. At first, their relationship is a fractured one, with Ali quickly becoming frustrated with Esther's inability to tell him where he needs to go. Equally so, Esther's frustration is levelled at how Ali is treating her, as well as her ambivalence in regards to his accent.

On paper, Damage suggests that it will be a film about two people connecting with one another through an understanding of the others life state, and while that is an aspect of the film, Madeleine layers it with imagery that reflects the continued surveillance state that we live in. It's a surveillance state that constantly denies the ability to rest, as we see images of Ali's home country in ruins, or clips of rampant progress with space shuttles bursting into the atmosphere, or even a commuter train blitzing through a snow covered track, smothering its awaiting passengers in filthy snow, all culminating in a sense of stress and anxiety that we simply don't have the space to escape from.

These motifs inform Ali's life, and in doing so, they try and answer the pointed question: why did Australia go to his home land and destroy it, forcing Ali to seek refuge here? In this sense, Damage takes inspiration from Ali's own life, which was documented by Robin De Crespigny in her award winning 2012 book The People Smuggler. Shots of waiting taxis also filter into the piece, leading to the question of how many people are experiencing the same life journey as Ali is in Australia.

That question is also applied to how Australia treats its elderly, as seen with drifting Esther's story. It's not long before we see the path she is following which presents her as a cognisant individual on the cusp of losing her grounded sense of being.

Damage is a powerful and impressive drama film, the kind that we deserve to see more of on Australian screens. In the above interview, Madeleine talks about the five year journey to bringing Damage to life, what it was like to work alongside her mother, and the way that music flows into the film in a reflective and enriching manner.

Damage is in Australian cinemas from November 9 and deserves your full attention.

My Darling in Stirling Director Bill Mousoulis Talks About Creating a Musical in the Adelaide Hills in This Interview

Filmmaker, critic, and cultural historian Bill Mousoulis has forged a career as, in the truest sense of the word, an independent filmmaker in Australia. His filmography spans over decades, with his works showcasing a keen sense of curiosity for the world around him, whether it be Greece, Melbourne, or as in his latest film My Darling in Stirling, the humble city of Stirling in the Adelaide Hills.

In the following interview, recorded ahead of the world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival, Bill talks about the inspiration for My Darling in Stirling, while also touching on what it means to be an Australian filmmaker working right now.

I've long respected and looked up to Bill for his work alongside Chris Luscri as they champion Australian independent cinema with their ongoing screenings under the banner of Unknown Pleasures, all the while Bill has fostered a support for alternative Australian cinema with his website Pure Shit. It was a pleasure to be able to talk with Bill about his work, both as a filmmaker and a writer.

Foe Director Garth Davis Talks About Creating a Human Connection on Screen with Saorise Ronan and Paul Mescal in This Interview

Garth Davis is a filmmaker who has explored the human need for connection in his films. Whether it's in his Best Picture nominee Lion, or in his latest film, Foe, that sense of being one with the person you love is a tangible thread throughout his career. In the following interview, Garth talks about that sense of connection, while also talking about one of the core themes of the film: Artificial Intelligence.

Foe stars Saoirse Ronan as Hen and Paul Mescal as Junior. They are Midwest lovers in the future who find their lives upturned when an unexpected visitor played by Aaron Pierre arrives to tell them that Junior is to be sent to space for some time. As a replacement and for company, Pierre's mysterious man proposes that they create an artificial clone of Junior to keep Hen company. From here, the science-fiction and dramatic tone of Foe interweaves Ronan and Mescal bouncing off one another.

Foe is in Australia cinemas from November 2.

To listen to other interviews, visit TheCurb.com.au

The F Project Cinema mini Winter Documentary Film Festival - Batoor: A Refugee Story

Batoor: A Refugee Journey’ tells the harrowing story of one person’s struggle to find freedom and safety while also probing moral issues around human displacement, people smuggling and migration policy.

The film highlights the powerlessness and the precarious lives of the world’s 70 million displaced souls; and is an attempt to give a voice to the planet’s most vulnerable people.

Afghani photojournalist Barat Ali Batoor was forced to flee along an asylum seeker route taken by thousands before him.

Remarkably, Batoor recorded his entire journey, creating a compelling record of his own journey and the lives of asylum seekers in a perilous world of cross border trafficking and risky sea voyages.

Finally granted refugee status in Australia, the 37 year-old has retraced his 13-months journey creating a powerful account of his odyssey and turning his film footage and Walkley-winning images into a stunning 90 minute film.

Come and meet filmmaker Barat Ali Batoor who will be at  the screening for a QnA  This FREE special mini winter documentary film festival is a collaboration with the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival supported by the Warrnambool City Council.

This event is a part of:

Find out more.

PO Box 198, 25 Liebig Street, Warrnambool Victoria 3280 Phone: 1300 003 280 (local call) or (03) 5559 4800 email: [email protected]

All Content Copyright © Warrnambool City Council 2024. Administrator Login

Movie Fundraiser: ‘Batoor: A Refugee Journey’

Event description.

🌏 MUGHS is honoured to announce our Step 4 Fundraiser for 2023 featuring Barat Ali Batoor!

📸 Barat is a multi award-winning photographer and filmmaker. His works have been exhibited across the world and published in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The West Australian, Strategic Review amongst others. His  TED talk  entitled "My desperate journey with a human smuggler" has over 1 million views. 

Join us for the opportunity to hear from Barat himself before watching his documentary ‘Batoor: A Refugee Journey’. The film won the ‘Best Director’ award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and was nominated for the 2021 Walkley Documentary Award.

⏳ When? 19th September, 6-9pm

🏫 Where? MSD/ Glyn Davis Building B120 Singapore Theatre, The University of Melbourne

💵 Cost? $12 per ticket for non-members and $10 for members. Stay tuned to hear more about the organisation we will be donating proceeds to.

🍕 A pizza dinner & movie snacks will be provided.

Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix donates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity

Refund policy

What asylum-seekers face at the U.S. border after a grueling journey through Mexico

Amna Nawaz Amna Nawaz

Christine Romo Christine Romo

Sam Weber Sam Weber

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-asylum-seekers-face-at-the-u-s-border-after-a-grueling-journey-through-mexico

Wednesday, we reported from Mexico on the global migration making its way through that country to the U.S. border. With producers Christine Romo and Sam Weber, Amna Nawaz continues that journey and speaks with migrants, ranchers, Border Patrol officials and advocates.

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

Last night, we reported from Mexico on the increasingly global migration making its way through that country to the U.S. southern border.

And, tonight, Amna Nawaz continues that journey starting in Green Valley, Arizona.

How often do you do this drive?

Pastor Randy Mayer, Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans:

I do this at least once a week.

Amna Nawaz:

It's about an hour-and-a-half drive from Pastor Randy Mayer's church to the rugged border between Arizona and Mexico in the Sonoran Desert.

Pastor Randy Mayer:

It's a time-honored tradition of giving help to the stranger.

Mayer is the founder of Green Valley Samaritans. And for nearly a quarter-century, he's been providing aid to migrants.

A year ago, we were running into groups out in the desert, but it was eight, 10, 15 people a day. Now we're out there some days and we're running into 300, 400.

Three or 400 people a day?

But it's not just more people. It's where they're coming from.

Hey, do you guys need anything?

Bangladesh.

Bangladesh. (Speaking in foreign language)

(Speaking in foreign language)

Within minutes of reaching the border wall, Pastor Randy is out of the truck and handing out granola bars and water to a group of men from Bangladesh.

They have been traveling for three months and just arrived at this makeshift border camp. Before long, more arrivals. They're from Guatemala, finding the Samaritans after walking for five hours. The group, including a 5-year-old, had been traveling for a month.

A five-minute drive further down the border road, another large group that recently crossed, including this father and his children from Senegal.

Six months ago, we had never seen somebody from Bangladesh or Africa in this part of the desert. It was all Mexicans and Central Americans, and sometimes it would be a few people from South America, but now this is pretty regular.

I notice one of the first things you say is welcome.

Yes, we want to make sure that at least their first encounter is one of great welcome and saying we are glad you are here.

Among the group are three sisters, 13-year-old Nicole, 14-year-old Genesis and 8-year-old Valeria. They're traveling alone from Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico.

Did you see any other kids traveling alone along the way?

Nicole, Mexican Migrant (through interpreter):

No. Most just had their families or their parents or their aunts and uncles or even close cousins. Everybody had somebody.

And you had each other?

Nicole (through interpreter):

Yes, just us three.

The sisters are heading to reunite with their mother, their sole provider, who came to the U.S. 7.5 years ago to support the family. Over the phone, she shares her relief that her daughters made it safely across the border.

WOMan (through interpreter):

I was desperate and I was so scared because I didn't know what was going on.

The girls, like everyone here, are now just waiting to turn themselves into Border Patrol. Virtually all will seek asylum in the U.S., a legal protection that takes years to formally determine.

But, for now, with a snack, water and reassurance from Pastor Randy that transport would eventually come, spirits seem high. But in this remote stretch of the Sonoran Desert, the journey can quickly turn dire.

00 in the afternoon. I just met this group of folks who just crossed over earlier this morning, they said, in the middle of the night. Two are from Mali. One is from Mauritania. One is from Guinea. Two of them are very, very sick. They said that they have been waiting for Border Patrol to arrive for hours, and it looks like they have now arrived.

So they will start to get some medical help and see what happens next. An hour passes. The group is taken by ambulance to a hospital more than 90 minutes away. It's these moments that show why this border is the deadliest land migration route in the world.

In Arizona's Pima County, more than 3,000 migrants have died in the last 30 years.

This shouldn't be so deadly. By our people being out here, we literally are saving lives day in and day out.

Along the same span of rugged terrain, Stephen Cristinzio with U.S. Customs and Border Protection echoes that sentiment.

Stephen Cristinzio, U.S. Customs and Border Protection: When the organizations are pushing family groups across in the middle of nowhere, that's been a big challenge.

When you say the organizations, you mean the cartels?

Stephen Cristinzio:

The cartels. The cartels. The cartels control everything here.

Cristinzio helps lead Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, which covers 262 border miles in Arizona.

Tucson Sector is the most inhospitable terrain on the Southwest border.

I mean, how does that impact your resources? You have got larger groups, more people coming across and more remote crossings. What does that mean for your team?

It makes it incredibly difficult for us to respond in a quick Manner.

For us, the number one thing with the give-up groups is safety and preservation of life. We triage things in that Manner.

Driving that border with Agent Cristinzio, we quickly get a sense of what his team is Managing. This group of 17 migrants, all Mexicans, crossed the border just moments earlier through a broken section of the border fence.

The pace of what Border Patrol calls give-ups, or people turning themselves in, is relentless. Apprehensions in this part of Arizona were up 30 percent in March compared to a year ago and just down from record levels a few months ago.

Probably can't get them all in, right?

The group is loaded onto a van to be taken to a nearby facility in Nogales, Arizona.

We will get a medical screening. Basic biographical information will get taken. That will happen first. Yes, they're coming across right there.

Before Cristinzio can finish his thought, he sees another group approaching.

Do you have space, staff, resources to support all of them?

Yes, we might — I don't know when we can get the next van. It might be a little bit before he comes back, and then…

(Crosstalk)

Over the course of an hour, we document at least 70 people, minors, families, children as young as 6 months, crossing the border to turn themselves in at this one remote spot.

But it's not just asylum seekers. Agent Cristinzio says a masked Man on the border fence is likely a scout for a cartel.

He will watch us. If it's people or drugs, whatever that guy is looking to push across, he's just trying to tie up our resources, get us out of the area.

In fact, moments earlier, agents on ATVs marched two men out of the brush who'd been evading Border Patrol.

It's a sight that fifth-generation rancher Jim Chilton says he's increasingly seeing at his ranch, which spans 50,000 acres, including 5.5 miles along the Mexico border.

Jim Chilton, Cattle Rancher:

Through the Obama and Trump administration, averaged about 230 people coming through the ranch. In the last three years, it's been at about 1,200 people.

Chilton tracks the solicit traffic using motion-activated cameras on his property.

What do you think should be done to stop those guys from cutting through your ranch?

Jim Chilton:

President Biden made a huge mistake stopping the wall. The wall is a very helpful tool. It would require the Border Patrol being at the wall, and anybody trying to cut it or crawl over it or under it, they apprehended them and kick them back into Mexico.

He says he supports more legal immigration pathways, but the current flow of people claiming asylum between ports of entry is untenable.

I feel for the undocumented immigrants. They're just trying to get into the country. But we can't accept everybody that has an issue.

A lot of folks on the outside looking in say there's a siege going on, there's an invasion going on at the border. Is that how you see it?

When you have eight to 10 million people coming into the United States, one could almost say it's an invasion.

But opinions on this frontier differ. Chilton's neighbor, just down the road, doesn't see it exactly the same way.

Cattle rancher Lori Lindsay's property also runs along the Mexico border.

Lori Lindsay, Cattle Rancher:

It's super peaceful. It's beautiful. I have lived in nine states. This is my favorite place.

And this comes with the view of the border wall.

Lori Lindsay:

Right here.

Oh, I hadn't noticed.

Lindsay says she's never felt threatened here. And she doesn't put much stock in the immigration debate among people thousands of miles away.

If you're not familiar with the border, it sounds very scary. It sounds like we're being invaded, criminals are coming in to get us. And it's just not true. I mean, not that there isn't a problem. There is a problem with the cartels. We need to deal with those.

But there are two separate issues going on. You have got that, and then you have got a mother who's come seven countries away with her young children. I think, how desperate are you? Because I wouldn't want to do that with my kids.

Back at the border, Division Chief Stephen Cristinzio and Border Patrol agents are on the front lines of disentangling these two issues and Managing a huManitarian mission that Many Border Patrol agents didn't necessarily sign up for.

Do you worry, after seeing hundreds of people a day, thousands of people every week, that there's compassion fatigue, burnout?

I don't think so. It's hard to look at a group like this and see all these little kids. Those kids didn't ask to be here.

And you can put yourself in that situation. Imagine you having to make those sacrifices, make those decisions to travel hundreds or thousands of miles with that little girl right there. She's probably 9 months old.

Maybe a year.

And so, no, I don't worry about compassion fatigue. I don't.

Pastor Randy and the Green Valley Samaritan volunteers say they're frustrated by elected officials' failure to act.

For over 30 years, our politicians, both the Republican and the Democrats, have not chosen to do anything but throw money at security And it hasn't changed a single thing. In fact, it's probably brought more people here.

As the sun starts to set, dozens of migrants wait for Border Patrol to arrive, including Sisters Genesis, Nicole and Valeria, eagerly anticipating seeing their mother for the first time in more than seven years.

Genesis, Mexican Migrant (through interpreter):

I'm very excited to see her. It's been so long since I have seen her.

But, after we leave, that excitement turned to worry. In a moment of confusion, as night fell over the desert, the girls are left behind by a Border Patrol van.

Their mother alerted "NewsHour." We alerted Border Patrol, who carried out an overnight rescue of the girls. Last week, the sisters reunited with their mother, three more survivors of a dangerous journey who've reached their next safe space, whatever the path ahead.

Listen to this Segment

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Amna Nawaz serves as co-anchor of PBS NewsHour.

Sam Weber has covered everything from living on minimum wage to consumer finance as a shooter/producer for PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior joining NH Weekend, he previously worked for Need to Know on PBS and in public radio. He’s an avid cyclist and Chicago Bulls fan.

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