Kauthar Abdulalim’s film Found is a multiple award-winning short film. Talking about her motivation to produce this short film Kauthar says, “On December 15 2014, Australia came to a halt as it helplessly witnessed the Lindt Cafe attacks occur. From this incident, two major reactions occurred; one of unity and solidarity, and the other, of further concession to more hate and more bigotry.”
Found is an experiential film capturing a true incident faced by a young, Australian woman in the heart of Melbourne as the Sydney Siege hostage crisis was unfolding.
Screen-grab from the short film Found. Source: Supplied
Festivals: Official Selection, International Shorts, 2018 Finalist, Changin Face International Film Festival, 2018 Official Selection, Melbourne City Independent Film Awards, 2018 Official Selection, BMW Short Film Competition, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 2018
In her Director’s statement Kauthar says, “As the political climate tensed both locally and internationally, it became a norm hearing about attacks on Muslim women in public spaces as a retaliation to the terror attacks that these women did not commit - until it happened to a very close friend of mine, in public, with her three young daughters - and not one person who witnessed the attack, stood up for her. This incident both shocked and infuriated me, wanting to know more. And that, simply, was the motivation and driving force behind this film. To allow the audience to walk in a Muslim woman's shoes out in public - for just a few minutes!”
Awards:
Source: Supplied
Winner, BMW Short Film Competition, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 2018
Other screenings:
Screened at Moreland Dines Together, Uniting Through Faiths, 2018
The next screening in Melbourne will be at the Ilm Arts Festival, September 30th 2018, Melbourne Town Hall
Kauthar herself is of mixed heritage; born in Kenya to Indian and Pakistani parents she has a bit of all these three cultures. She herself used to wear a Hijab and is aware of what one has to go through in public on being easily identified as a Muslim woman because of the way they dress. Her friend was abused in a West Melbourne mall where she was accompanied by her three daughters all under ten years of age. The woman could not retaliate in any way but came home and broke down weeping.
Source: Supplied
The film has deeply moved the Muslim audience; especially Muslim women felt a tugging at their heart. Women from the wider community were also deeply touched. While most people have heard and read about Islamophobia, watching it on screen gave them a vicarious experience about what it feels like to be a Muslim woman in public space.
The greatest challenge for the Director in the making of the film was, to portray this issue without preaching. Kauthar says, "I wanted to empower the audience in deciding what is wrong and what is right.”
