Poetry of Omagh
Director: Robyn Hughan

Production: 2015, English & Dari with English & Dari Subtitle, 17 min, Australia

 

Synopsis: Australia has the largest Hazara community of any western country, with an estimated 12,000 Hazara’s residing in Melbourne’s Southeast. Most have fled brutal persecution from Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.
In June, 2014 Melbourne held the first Hazaraghi Omagh celebration, with over 2,000 people in attendance. Seeking to preserve and reacquaint with their culture, prior to the celebrations, artistic workshops were staged. This is a short film of the rediscovery of Hazaraghi poetry by participants. Poetry of Omagh has been chosen to screen at ACMI for Melbourne’s HRAFF (Human Rights Arts & Film Festival) on May 16th, 2015.
 

Director’s Biography: Robyn has worked in many areas of film – including producing and directing her own films on various topics. For over a decade she has worked closely with stories of refugees. She worked as a Film Victoria producer’s attachment and researcher on the seven part series Tales from A Suitcase: The Afghan Experience, which screened on SBS in 2001. She was researcher for the proposed documentary, Living in Limbo, following the plight of children in detention. She independently completed her own film, A Nun’s New Habit, which gives a personal insight into a Nun who advocates for refugees placed in detention after their arrival in Australia. This film broadcast in the USA on Link TV and won several awards at festivals internationally and continues to screen globally. She recently completed a film with Multi-Cultural Arts Victoria about the Hazara community in Melbourne, scheduled to screen in May 2015 at the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival. Currently, Robyn is in post production for her new feature documentary, A Journey To Nowhere which she filmed over a three year period. This story follows the plight of Afghan refugees and their traumatic journey to Australia. The project received development money from Film Victoria.