Activity: to support a schools workshop program, website, and social media program that builds on 2017’s The Staging Post documentary to facilitate understanding and dialogue between Australian students and refugees living in transit in Indonesia.

Outcome: The project was a success, and Light Sound Art Film’s Jolyon Hoff will continue the program for an additional 12 months (to Sept 2022) to capitalise on the post-pandemic opportunities.

Hoff says, “The Staging Post screenings with Q&A sessions with the refugees and former refugee Muzafar Ali are powerful events. School-age students have heard all sorts of opinions from their peers and family. In these sessions, they get to speak directly to the refugees. Meeting Mzuafar changes the discussion from the political to a humanitarian one, something the children understand instinctively.

“We will continue this program into the future and, with the recent events in Afghanistan, the film is as topical as ever. Many refugees will be leaving Afghanistan over the next 12 months and there will be significant news coverage. Allowing students to engage directly with those people is a powerful way to encourage a humanitarian perspective on the situation.”