Refugee teens promoting harmony through film

Refugee students have collaborated with the Faculty of the VCA and MCM to produce three films to be shown on the Federation Square Big Screen on 19 March, as part of Harmony Day celebrations. The Centre for Cultural Partnerships partnered with Debney Meadows Primary School on its arts project Many Voices, creating film projects that explore themes of displacement, identity and belonging. The projects aimed to promote the value of cultural diversity through the arts, build new creative arts skills, raise cultural awareness and engage children and parents from new arrival communities. Debney Meadows Primary School was chosen due to its high percentage of students from refugee and new arrival communities from China, Vietnam, Timor, Burma, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. Teachers, parents and students from the school worked with the Centre to produce three social identity films, I kissed my Mom , Searching for.. and New school . The films cover themes of settlement, displacement, friendship, innocent curiosity and the challenges of creating a new sense of belonging.