Moree youth involved in Beyond Empathy film project, Excursions

Through a series of film shoots over the past three weeks, as part of a Beyond Empathy (BE) project, young people have been involved in directing their stories and ideas in a variety of locations across the community.

Story workshops have allowed young people to talk freely about their experiences of growing up in Moree and the things that matter to them most and, with the support of the film crew, these ideas are then turned into stories and dramatized for the film shoot.

Lots of portrait shots and capturing the beauty of Moree at sunset have played an important role in the making of the film, which is being shot on real film stock to enrich the beauty of each young person’s contribution.

“We entered the shoot working from a loose script and shot list that had been developed after consulting with the community - from young people to Elders,” Nick Waterman, one of film’s the co-directors said.

“It was important to have a narrative framework to work within for the duration of the shoot but we also wanted to be open to the film evolving while we were shooting.

“We spent ten days in Moree working with people from all ages of the community to capture what will truly be a moving and intimate portrait of young Aboriginal people. It’s a story full of depth, complexity and hope. Their story deserves to be heard.”

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Raphaela Rosella, lead artist with BE and the driving force behind the community film has worked with Moree families for close to ten years now.

Working with community for the long haul is a founding principle of BE’s work and resists the fly in, fly out approach adopted by so many one-off projects in rural communities.

Beyond Empathy co-founder and executive director, Kim McConville is proud of the work, created with community and by the community.

“BE’s approach focusses on long-form storytelling and building individual and community capacity,” she said.

“Supporting connection between families and creating opportunities for young people to shine, really understand their potential and the stories that are important to them or to see what they are capable of, sits at the heart of the film making process.

“Young people are involved in all aspects of the film making process, developing the narrative, acting and all technical aspects of the film. It really is a film made by young people, for young people.

“Local stars Dayannah Baker Barlow and Tyrese Fernando have demonstrated incredible leadership on the project, leading many of the story development ideas, devising stories and deciding on the most appropriate locations for many of the shoots.”

Rosella said while the last three weeks of filming have been a blur, what surfaced and continued to stick with her was that this wasn’t a film project just for young people.

“It was a project that brought together whole families and community,” she said.

“From babies to Elders and every family member in-between. Whole families teamed together to help make this film theirs and the sense of pride on and behind the scenes was immeasurable.”

Josh Williamson, the films sound recordist agreed.

“Shane and Bradley would often ask to hold and operate my equipment before I had even got out of the car,” he said. 

“I was literally blown away by how quickly these two kids learnt how to use the gear and took responsibility for it. At one point I had to tell Bradley to stop looking after a mic and go join in the sparkler party, he was that serious about his self-assigned role.

“By the end of day two my tactics changed completely and I was simply handing out small portable mics whenever we arrived on location. Most often than not, someone would take it and immediately start interviewing themselves, or their friends. I really didn’t need to be there.”

Williamson said his favourite audio recording of the entire trip came from a game that developed between him and Shane.

“[Shane] would take a clip on radio mic and speak to me as we played hide and seek,” he said. 

“The intimacy and raw feeling this recording evokes, typifies the entire project for me. As he whispers ‘can you see me? Josh, can you see me?’ I can’t help but smile and look forward to being a part of the craziness in Moree sometime again soon.”

Talented, local hip hop writers and storytellers, Braiden Tighe and Connie Taylor have participated in workshops with BE artist, Radical Son, local artist Paul Spearim and Elder, Uncle Peter Duncan to develop and write parts of the film narrative.

Young people from Moree Secondary College also worked on the stories to be included in the film.

David Leha, Beyond Empathy creative director, cultural guide and mentor said film projects like this that focus on engaging young people and their families in the entire process are important for building links and relationships across the whole community.

Leha was especially thrilled to witness the involvement of Elders right through to small children.

“Involving families in the process really strengthens community bonds and builds enormous pride and ownership,”  he said.

“Working on the film project in Moree brought the kids running. Children from around the area flocked at the excitement started by the filmmakers.”

The Moree project is part of a national Beyond Empathy project called Excursions, supported by Zurich Financial Services. Alongside projects in Melbourne, Perth and Port Kembla in southern NSW, the Moree film will be shown later in the year, first at home and then young people will travel to Sydney to present their work to new audiences.

Sue Maher, country head of HR for Zurich, travelled to Moree with other colleagues to witness the project and meet with families and community Elders.

“There are many ways to help people reach their full potential which is why we’re proud to have partnered with Beyond Empathy to bring the Excursions project to Moree,” she said.

“Art empowers people to draw on their creative strengths, builds confidence, and can help people find their own purpose and direction. 

“Beyond Empathy’s work with young people in the local community is helping to support individual growth.  We enjoyed assisting Rosie’s project and meeting the people and the community who have inspired her.”

Excursions is a project that uses creative processes, including film, music and large scale public art to explore new territory with young people.