Self-portrait of Jen drawn in 2002 when Timor entered my dream life.
Suai Media Arts Group is a group of people making regular and irregular contributions to the work of the Suai Media Arts Project. John Pierce Internet Guru, Jeff Karutz, Jo Wellington, Kate McCarthy, Sioux Curry, Ness Alexander, Caroline Farmer, Catherine Gough Brady and many others such as Liz Burke and Julia Murray cheering from the sides. Digital Pictures Iloura and other sponsors provide back up support on occasions. My name is Jen Hughes - I’m the documentary-maker and editor behind Suai Media Space and the videos. Nothing could happen without the assistance of John Pierce. Other partnerships and sponsors are in Acknowledgements.
Short History of the Project
After spending five months in East Timor in 2000 what began as a documentary became much more. It became a full-time project, with a commitment time of ten years.
The project began with a series of short documentaries:
‘The Struggle Continues’ and ‘The Circle of Stones’ (Suai- 2001).
The desire to show the Pt Phillip Community the film and involve them in the Friends of Suai activities led to The Second Anniversary Event also titled ‘The Circle of Stones’ (Pt Phillip - 2001). Residents of Pt Phillip were invited to inscribe a rock for a Remembrance event to be held in St Kilda, on the 2nd Anniversary of the Suai Church Massacre.
Catherine Gough-Brady and Gerald Thompson assisted with additional cameras and a small documentary about the event titled: ‘The Circle of Stones _2′ was made to record the event. Edited by Rosie Jones.
The Friends of Suai provided a small amount of money to encourage another documentary about their activities and this resulted in ‘Truckloads for East Timor‘ (2002)
In 2003 I travelled to Suai for one month with Lee Kirk and on my return I produced a short video titled ‘Kamenassa Flood’ for Lee Kirk about the floods that occurred in Kamenassa while we were there. Lee showed it to the newly-formed Engineers without Borders and this led to a team doing a report and making recommendations to assist with flood prevention. No action was taken on the report, but the local Timorese built some protective walls.
Disillusion with the Howard Government’s policies towards refugees (including Timorese) and the Timor Sea Oil and Gas Reserves as well as many other issues, led to the production of a feature length movie titled ‘Time to Go John’ in 2004. This was a collection of short films connected by a comedy skit with a Big Brother Theme hosted by Rod Quantock a famous Melbourne Comedian. I co-produced the film and Directed ‘Black Bullion’ a film about Australia’s immoral behaviour towards the Timorese and their rights to the resources in the Timor Sea. This was co-produced by Kate McCarthy, edited by Sioux Curry and Ness Alexander with animation by Simon Karutz.
The first website documentary prototype www.crimsonthreads.org, I made in collaboration with two Victoria University final year multi-media students John Umina and Katie Hodgkinson. Crimson Threads was a finalist in the Australian Teachers of Media Awards (ATOM).
In 2005-2006 I worked with the Friends of Suai to set up a media unit in Suai and travelled with the equipment to give the first workshops.
The crisis in Dili 2006 that led to thousands of refugees losing their homes and clustering together in camps in Dili led to many people working in East Timor returning to Australia and some activities aimed at fundraising.
I produced two more short documentaries in 2006:
‘Hangover’ that features the music of East Timorese popular band ‘Galaxy’ and and interview with their lead singer ‘Melli’, was made for a student conference held at Elwood secondary college, on ‘Democracy’.
‘The Art of Healing’ was made for a ‘Friends of Suai’ fundraiser held in St Kilda at Theatreworks, to raise funds for Arte Moris, the free art school in Dili, when it was acting as a refugee camp after the crisis in Dili . See The Documentaries.
All of the above has required the good will, and sometimes money, of those named above as well as a range of sponsors.
2007 was spent on translation and the start of this website. 2008 has mostly been spent on setting up the website, writing and uploading content. In June 2008 I went to Suai to consult and give workshops to the students and volunteers in the Youth Centre and Media Group YoMaTre.