On her third visit to Bangladesh for attending the Dhaka International Film Festival, Dhaka Tribune caught up with the Australian film director and writer Robyn Hughan, who is currently a jury member of the Short and Independent Films segment of the 13th DIFF. Her new film Mooo-ving Cows & Filipino Brides is going to be screened today. In the exclusive interview, Robyn shares her experience as a filmmaker and more.
Tell us about yourself and your work.
I am an independent film director and have worked closely with refugees over the past decade, you can call me a passionate refugee advocate.
I worked as a producer’s attachment and researcher on the seven part series Tales from a Suitcase: the Afghan Experience, the project was an initiative of the state government agency Film Victoria.
My independent work is a 56 minutes documentary, A Nun’s New Habit, which gives a personal insight into a Nun’s life, who advocates for refugees placed in detention after their arrival in Australia. It’s a pleasure that the film was awarded Best Spiritual Documentary in the 11th Dhaka International Film Festival.
Your film Mooo-ving Cows & Filipino Brides is going to be showcased today, tell us about it.
Mooo-ving Cows & Filipino Brides is a part of a project, Destination Shepparton, its story encircles four people, Ramil, Cynthia, Linda and Dina of the Filipino community. It portrays their compelling reasons to come to the Greater Shepparton area to experience love, work, spirituality and entertainment.
How do you connect your civil activism work with your filmmaking?
I have an emotional attachment with thesubject matter. Like an anthropologist, sometimes I live with the refugees in their community, observe their sufferings and struggle. The hardships they face everyday is the base of my driving force to work for them. I have cooperation with other young filmmakers who inarguably work with me on such projects.
Do you find any young civil activist filmmakers from Bangladesh engaging them in filmmaking?
Yes, I noticed but as a jury, I can’t reveal the name of the films right now. A lot of appreciable films are being screened at the festival and I think that a great number of films are waiting in the queue.
Tell us about your current project.
During the last several months, I have been embedded in Malaysia and Indonesia with Afghan refugees and the result is some incredibly personal stories of survival from the women and their families. Facing dire circumstances and severe bouts of depression, it is a challenge for them to survive the terrors as well as the displacement.