Arohuai (Pulang)
At a glance
Dery Prananda (director) | Kartika Pratiwi (writer/ producer) | Australia, Indonesia | 2017
Suitable for
Length
10 mins 29 secs
Language Level
Monologue in conversational Indonesian is spoken direct to camera. Intermediate to advanced language learners should be able to identify key words and gather the gist of utterances. Some words are muffled and the text is unscripted so there is on-the-spot rephrasing and unfinished sentences.
Themes
Australia-Indonesia relations / Identity / Neighbours / Survival
This documentary tells the story of Amos Wainggai, a young man from West Papua, who together with 42 other asylum seekers, arrived in Australia by boat in January 2006 after spending 5 days at sea in a traditional outrigger boat. The narrative focusses on the journey, the things Amos misses about home and the message he would send to his family.
While it doesn’t talk about why the asylum seekers made the journey, text on the screen at the end of the film notes that the decision by the Australian government to grant them temporary protection visas (and later citizenship) caused political tension between Australia and Indonesia.
Characters
Amos Wainggai
Setting
We see Amos on a tram, on St Kilda beach and in his home in Melbourne. There are also impressionistic shots at sea.
Teaching Materials
Keywords
Arafura Sea, asylum seekers and refugees, family, keluarga, laut, neighbours, ocean, Papua, survival, West PapuaReelOzInd! Australia Indonesia Short Film Competition and Festival seeks to raise awareness and improve understanding between the peoples of both countries.