By JESSE GRAHAM
THE human face of asylum seekers will be front and centre at a movie fundraiser which is to be held in Warburton next month.
Mary Meets Mohammad will be screened at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre from 2pm on Sunday 14 September as part of a fundraiser for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Mary Meets Mohammad is a documentary which follows the opening of Tasmania’s first detention centre from the perspective of local Christian woman and knitter Mary and Muslim Afghan Hazara asylum seeker Mohammad.
Mary is strongly opposed to the asylum seekers’ arrival in the community but as her knitting club creates beanies for the detention centre’s residents, she becomes curious about the life of the detainees and visits the centre.
Event organiser Kerry Nicholas said that the movie humanises the current debates about asylum seekers and explores issues about detention centres and community attitudes.
“We’re really quite remote from the places where quite a lot of activity goes on in relation to asylum seekers, so people aren’t conscious of it,” she said.
“It’s a gentle film – it raises questions, but it’s not heavy.
“It’s a process of relating, and small communities are good at relating.”
The film session is hosted by Amnesty International’s Upper Yarra Group, which has been collecting food and materials through drop-off boxes in Warburton to donate to the ASRC’s offices in Footscray.
Entry to the fundraiser is $10 and children under 15 receive free entry.
To book tickets, visit www.culturetracks.info or call 1300 368 333.
For more information on donating to ASRC, visit www.asrc.org.au/get-involved/give-goods, the Warburton Community Space, Sancta Sophia or the Waterwheel information centre.
