Eddie Russell
A recent film by Melton-based organisation, African Youth Initiative (AYI), is “more than a documentary – it’s a movement”.
Reclaim Voices premiered on August 24 to a sold-out audience of 280 people from Melton, Brimbank, and Wyndham at the Reading Cinemas at Woodgrove Shopping Centre.
AYI treasurer Malou Lueth, who appears on-screen, said the title of the project was an “important” detail that showed the bigger picture.
“A lot of the time our stories and identities have been distorted by the media, who continue to portray the African community as criminals,” he said.
“It puts stereotypes and biases in people’s minds and that’s something we wanted to break, so we came up with the documentary to reclaim our voice as a community and write our own narrative.”
African Youth Initiative (AYI) is a not-for-profit charity that works with disengaged youths in the western suburbs.
It aims to promote positive behaviours through its initiatives to ‘transform’ the mentality of young Africans.
The film follows Sabir Banek, whose life story provides a case study for the type of people that AYI helps.
“His first-hand lived experience of the criminal justice system involved a lifestyle of crime and other things that were no good for him,” Mr Lueth said.
“That’s what the media shows you, but not the reasons behind that. We wanted to look into his story and see where things went wrong.”
For Mr Banek, the death of his father, compounded by a lack of support and access to good role models, led to him getting expelled from school and ending up in jail.
Mr Lueth said Mr Banek turned his life around while incarcerated and got to where he is today as a carpenter and amateur artist.
“He got the revelation to change in prison … the path he took was one of faith,” he said.
“He shares what it has done to help him find employment and take up hobbies like music and art … once he got that, he gave back to the community.”
The tale of redemption is something that Mr Lueth hoped would resonate with residents and change their perception of African youths.
“It’s not just voices of pain and struggle but resilience and hope,” he said.
“This is about education – our intention was to reach people who don’t know who we are or what we do and allow them to reflect on the way they respond to media [representation].”
More than a year of work culminated in one night as both familiar and unfamiliar faces packed the cinema.
“There were a lot of different people who were involved in the work we do – young people, volunteers, churchgoers – but we had a lot of random people that we didn’t know,” Mr Lueth said.
“It was awesome seeing the community show up; it was really moving.”
The success of the premiere means AYI is now in the process of contacting schools and organisations for private screenings to expand its reach.
In August, the organisation received $85,000 in funding from the state government as part of the Supporting South Sudanese Australian Communities grant.
