After much organising, 2012 of Pacific Stories has kicked off with a trip to the beautiful town of Robinvale, located about 5 1/2 hours north on the Murray River. Amie & I were welcomed by The Robinvale Network House who are supporting & auspicing our project. We spent 3 days getting to know the community, talking to locals and finding out about the amazing diversity of Robinvale.
With a population of approx.. 3000 and over 42 nationalities represented- Robinvale is a dynamic community, learning to live together under some difficult circumstances. Agriculture and fruit picking work has brought many Pacific Islanders (& other communities) to Robinvale which is traditionally Tati Tati land. The project is going to take place at Robinvale College with a group of 8 students from both Pacific and Indigenous backgrounds and will be exploring issues of identity and community that the students face. Amie and I are so excited (as you can see by the photo) to be privileged enough to work in Robinvale and will keep you posted with our filming adventures!! Also keep in touch with what is happening on our FaceBook page.
We are looking forward to an exciting 2012 that is bringing Pacific Stories 2011 national, and possibly international with our films hopefully being screened in Amie’s island home of the Solomon Islands at the Pacific Arts Festival!!
Lia Pa’apa’a