Year 10 English students are currently studying discursive essays, documentaries, speeches, and multimodal texts that give voice to pressing and urgent social, political, cultural and environmental concerns as part of their unit.
“The work allows students to develop a passionate discursive and multimodal text that expresses your understanding and perspective on an issue close to their hearts,” said Head of English and Philosophy Thom Marchbank.
The documentary, Die. Or Die Trying: Escaping the Taliban, is produced in collaboration with the Addison Road Community Centre. It charts the moving story of fifteen Afghan girls between the ages of 14 and 26 who recently arrived in Australia.
Students heard how the girls and young women were living in one room together as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and how Craig Foster, SBS sports journalist and human rights activist, and the Addison Road Community Centre used all the resources, contacts and general intelligence they could muster to secure Australian visas for the group.
Farhat Kohistani, one of the girls featured in the film, attend the screening at IGS, along with some of the other girls and young women.
Annabel Crabb, ABC political journalist, commentator and television host led a Q&A at the conclusion of the film.
“These girls and young women have been through the most challenging of circumstances, and faced impossible choices and literally life or death decisions to resist the Taliban occupation, evade capture, and flee Afghanistan,” said Thom.
“What shines through, though, and is so clear in Marwa and Farhat’s words and worldview, is that strength and will and resilience can prevail, and that opportunity is there if we can but seize it. I am so humbled at Marwa and Farhat’s generosity in sharing their stories and experiences, their honesty and vulnerability in acknowledging the guilt they feel in making it safely to Australia when so many of their family members are still in Afghanistan, and glad that Year 10 students were able to see demonstrated the power of humanity and human connections–when we collaborate and act with kindness, compassion, and empathy, the most amazing things can happen.”