Stop the Boats
SECTION: International Forum 2017
SCREENINGS
Friday, 29.09., 7.00 p.m., Festsaal, with panel discussion at Kopfbau, 2nd floor, with Nicolai Jung, Viraj Mendis and Theresa Leisgang. Moderator: Ramona Lenz (medico international)
SYNOPSIS
STOP THE BOATS tells the story of a fishing boat with 65 refugees – mainly Tamils from Sri Lanka – that was picked up by the Australian coastguard on its way to New Zealand. The refugees were forced back onto unseaworthy boats and eventually accommodated in a center. Representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) visited them and even got some of them to agree to go back home.
After the screening, we will talk to the filmmaker Nicolai Jung, Viraj Mendis from IMRV Bremen and Bernd Theresa Leisgang from Sea-Watch about Australia’s anti-refugee policies, which some European politicians see as a model. We will be looking at the parallels between what is happening off the Australian coast and the increasing criminalization of rescue missions in the Mediterranean. We will also be discussing the role of international organizations such as the IOM.
Moderation: Ramona Lenz (medico international).
NICOLAI JUNG
Nicolai Jung was born in Hamburg in 1975. He studied political science and journalism. He now works as a freelance journalist and filmmaker in Bremen. He produces documentary films as part of the Yardstick Films team. Stop the Boats is his first film as a director.
In addition to his work as a journalist, Nicolai has almost 20 years of experience in various areas of international human rights work. As a filmmaker, he is also interested in investigating where fundamental rights are being violated and contributing to constructive discourse on political and social issues through small and big stories.
Nicolai is currently working on a documentary film with refugee Tamil women. The film examines the extent to which therapeutic work with victims of political violence and military counter-insurgency harbours the danger of depoliticising traumatic experiences.
FILMOGRAPHY
Stop the Boats (2017)
