HARMONY Day has been celebrated across the nation since 1999. Held every year on March 21, the message of Harmony Day is “everyone belongs”.
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This year Wagga City Library will be celebrating Harmony Day by screening two new Australian documentaries; Cast from the Storm (PG) and The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe (M).
Cast from the Storm follows a group of teenage refugees who share their extraordinary stories when they join Treehouse Theatre, an after-school theatre group. Asfar, Maryam and Wiam face the usual challenges of navigating high school, with one significant difference. Circumstances forced them to leave their home countries and everything they knew. Now in Australia, they must start not only a new school, but also a new life in a new country.
The three teenagers join Treehouse Theatre and, guided by three dedicated teachers, enter into a community that supports them to share their “storm stories”.
Asfar, Maryam and Wiam’s personal journeys are scripted into a moving stage performance. Through this process, the three teenagers - as well as other participants - move from being defined by their trauma to taking control of their futures.
This is not your typical refugee film; it is a coming of age story. This uplifting documentary shares the reality of what it means to be a teenager and a displaced person. This is the story of what comes after, and what it means to remake your home.
- Cast from the Storm will screen at 4pm in the children’s area on March 21.
The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe is an inspirational new documentary, celebrating the remarkable resilience and spirit of four African Australian women from Eritrea, Kenya, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Aminata, Rosemary, Yordy and Yarrie all fled violence and sexual abuse in their homelands, eventually finding a safe haven in Australia. For years they each held their pain within, until they decide to join a theatre group and speak out.
Under the nurturing guidance of acclaimed theatre director Ros Horin, the four women came together allowing their life stories to be transformed into an extraordinary theatrical experience that became a sell-out success from its very first show.
Filmed over three years, the documentary charts the personal journeys of these four resilient women, from their first theatre group meeting, through trauma, healing and public triumph.
Heart-rending, profound and ultimately uplifting, the film offers a message of hope and support for women and children who have suffered around the world, whether in the context of war, or in a domestic situation.
- The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe will screen at 6pm in the children’s area on March 21.
