PURPLE SEA
dir. Amel Alzakout & Khaled Abdulwahed
Arabic w/ English subtitles
67 minutes
NT premiere
“Our vision is for refugee voices to be respected and amplified, and for all Australians to be welcoming and supportive of people seeking asylum. We would like to see people with lived experience of seeking asylum leading all campaigns concerning refugee rights and we'll work to ensure this happens.”
Ahmad Hakim, Founder & Director of Refugee Voices"I lie on my back, under the surface of the water. The sea is purple. I feel the warmth with every pore of my body. I’m not afraid anymore."
PURPLE SEA
Refugee Voices, Dogmilk and Watch This Space are proud to facilitate the Australian premiere screening of PURPLE SEA by Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed in Mparntwe.
PURPLE SEA is a poem-documentary recounting the filmmakers experience of being stranded in a capsized refugee boat in the mediterranean.
Refugee Voices is a newly founded refugee-led community organisation, with expertise across community mobilisation, refugee policy and campaigning.
Following the screening there will be a Q+A with the Director of Purple Sea, Amel Alzakout and the Founder and Director of Refugee Voices, Ahmad Hakim. The Q+A will be facilitated by writer and filmmaker Ahmed Adam.
All proceeds from this event will go to Refugee Voices currently working with the recently released Medevac refugees to settle into the community safely and securely.
Newly released people have received $400 from the Australian government, and only 6 weeks of accommodation. They are on unstable six-month bridging visas, which do not allow them to access welfare or higher education. All of these funds raised will go directly to these people. If you are unable to attend but would still like to support Refugee Voices, you can do so here: https://www.refugeevoices.org.au/donate
DISCLAIMER
Purple Sea is a subjective account of deeply traumatising experiences, that may be distressing for some viewers.
BIO
Amel Alzakout, born in 1988 in Syria, is an artist and filmmaker based in Leipzig. Between 2010 and 2013 she studied journalism at Cairo University. In 2017 she participated with other artists in the video installation Trust Us in the 3rd Herbstsalon at the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. Between 2017 and 2018 she studied art at the Weißensee Art Academy in Berlin, currently she is studying media art at the Academy of Visual Art (HGB) in Leipzig. Purple Sea is her debut film.
Khaled Abdulwahed, born in 1975 in Syria, is an artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Leipzig. Between 1996 and 2000 he studied Fine Arts and Graphic Design at Adham Ismail Art School in Damascus and at Frederick University in Nicosia. Between 2002 and 2008 he exhibited his artworks in the Middle East and Europe. From 2011 he directed and produced video artworks which were screened in many art spaces, festivals, universities, and TV channels over the world. In 2015 he was invited to Berlinale Talents. Purple Sea is his second collaboration with Amel Alzakout.