Molly and Mobarak
Written and directed by Tom Zubrycki
Showing at the Kino Cinema, Melbourne; the Schonell, St Lucia, Brisbane; and the Valhalla, Glebe, Sydney
REVIEW BY TONY ILTIS
Tom Zubrycki's documentary film Molly and Mobarak opens with shots of a refugee boat as seen from an Australian surveillance plane, then cuts to Prime Minister John Howard, framed by the Australian flag, giving his tough-on-border-protection line.
What follows, however, is not a documentary analysing Howard's "Pacific solution" or how he used vilification of refugees to steal the 2001 federal elections. Instead, we have a story looking at some very human interactions in the rural NSW town of Young.
"I think the film says that ordinary Australians can find a lot of space in their lives to welcome strangers that are in their midst", Zubrycki told Green Left Weekly. "It's a film that turns the notion of Howard's Australia, based on fear, on its head."
Temporary protection visa (TPV) holders from Afghanistan's persecuted Hazara minority started settling in Young after an enlightened human resources manager, Tony Hewson, recruited them to work at the local meatworks, which was having difficulty finding local workers. A number of local people stepped forward to welcome the refugees into the town.
"The thing which I found interesting about living in Young was the degree of intensity between the supporters and the refugees — it wasn't just a question of having English classes each week", Zubrycki observed. "Supporters were people from a wide range of backgrounds. Some were teachers, farmers' wives, a few shopkeepers, but they tended to be mainly women, older women. They were kind of thrown together in their desire to help the refugees."
While there was some hostility from inside the town, according to Zubrycki, "it was more like suspicion than overt racism [and] dissipated over a period of time. It hasn't entirely dissipated, but it has to the point where the Afghans in the last Cherry Parade had a float — that's pretty significant in Young."
As its title suggests, the film focuses on the relationship between two individuals — local teacher Molly, and 23-year-old Hazara refugee Mobarak. Zubrycki describes the film as one that "tackles various issues pertaining to the lives of asylum seekers, through a love story".
However, much of the emotional depth of the film comes from the relationship between Mobarak and Molly's mother, Lyn, another of the core group of refugee supporters in Young.
Another interesting theme of the film is the differing degrees and ways that migrants assimilate the culture of their adopted country. By the end of story, Mobarak has his hair dyed blonde, is drinking beer and displaying quite an Australian attitude towards the English language. In this regard, he is not untypical, according to Zubrycki. "The whole TPV thing has no provision for assimilation. It's just crazy: how can you stay the same?"
The film has already created controversy. "They banned it being screened in Parliament House, which is tantamount to acknowledging that the film is subversive", Zubrycki said. That a film can be subversive simply because it humanises people that the government prefers dehumanised says a lot about Howard's Australia.
Mobarak, meanwhile, is now living in Sydney. Because his TPV has expired, Zubrycki told GLW, "he's on a bridging visa and he will continue to stay on one until the case is decided, which could be quite a long time. He has to go through various processes, including the Refugee Review Tribunal. We don't even know yet the result of his initial interview, which was about six months ago — whether he's been accepted or rejected. He hasn't got a letter. But the fact that the film's out there, might be making a difference."
From Green Left Weekly, February 11, 2004.
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