Watandar: My Countryman, the new documentary feature film from writer/ director/ producer Jolyon Hoff (The Staging Post), will have a special Q&A screening with the filmmakers at The J, Noosa Junction on Thursday 8 June.
The film is the story of Muzafar Ali, an internationally renowned Afghani photographer who arrived in Australia as a refugee.
When Muzafar discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.
Jolyon Hoff said, “The Afghan cameleer descendants featured in Watandar, My Countryman are Indigenous, colonial and immigrants at the same time.“
“When Muzafar decided to photograph them, we started filming. His experience as a former Afghan-Hazara refugee, along with his wisdom and charisma, presented a rare opportunity to re-examine Australia’s colonial history.
“The film touches on some of Australia and the world’s biggest geopolitical stories including the relationship between colonial, ancient and immigrant Australians, our treatment of refugees, the division between the world’s dominant religions, the success and or lack of success of the international forces in Afghanistan, and the power of individuals to create change.”
Muzafar Ali is a Hazara artist from Afghanistan who grew up in Pakistan as a refugee. In 2004, when he was 17, he returned to Afghanistan to work with the United Nations disarmament program.
This work took him across the country and he extensively photographed the regions, providing an insight into rarely documented areas. He donated his photographs to promote education, women’s rights, social justice, and strengthening democratic institutions and was the first Afghan photographer exhibited by the United Nations in Afghanistan.
His solo and joint exhibitions have been held in Afghanistan, the Republic of Korea, USA, UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia. He is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts at the University of South Australia and works as a Social Support Worker for refugees in Indonesia.
A Q&A with host the Sunshine Coast Refugee Action Network, will follow the screening with both Muzafar and director Jolyon Hoff as guests. The audience will be invited to ask questions.
A free exhibition of Muzafar’s photographs will be on display at the Sonder Studio Gallery in Cooroy from 8 – 11 June. An opening event at 5.30pm on Friday 9 June will include a Q&A with Muzafar.
Tickets for Watander at The J are $25/$20 concession available at thej.com.au/watandar-my-countryman/
Tickets for Photographic Exhibition opening event and Q&A is free, but registration required at events.humanitix.com/watandar-documentary-exhibition-and-q-and-a-with-muzafar-and-jolyon-hoff
