Children of a Nation

Children of a Nation is a 52 minute broadcast documentary set in East Timor.

Set amongst the chaos of youth gang fighting in 2006 that has turned tens of thousands of East Timorese families into IDPs (internally displaces people), an inspired East Timorese teacher develops a vision for the children in her school. Sister Aurora Pires, along with New Zealand teacher Anne Fisher, trains teachers to nurture their young students so they can heal wounds and break the cycle of trauma to build a humanistic and truly democratic society.

Directed and Co produced by Peter Marra/Giving Voice.


New Zealand documentary maker Peter Marra, with the collaboration of the East Timorese filmakers of the Centro Audio Visual Max Stahl Archive Timor Leste, uncovers this remarkable story while documenting the home and school life of five-year-old. Soon after filming her first days at school and Marra returned to New Zealand, he learns that the girl and her family have been forced to abandon their home and flee as violence escalates in Comoro, their neighbourhood in the capital city Dili. Marra returns to East Timor with the intention of finding her. Through interviews with school teachers and other local leaders, Marra uncovers a personal story that creates a portrait of the reality and needs of the Children of a Nation. This is also the universal story of the needs of all children in every culture.

Children of a Nation - Trailer

Themes of Children of a Nation

Refugees flooded into the school documented in Children of a Nation in 2006 and some still remain.






Inspired East Timorese teacher Sister Auroa Pires says the recent chaos in East Timor is a lesson for all countries: “Look after your young people, otherwise the whole nation will suffer.”

Collaborators

New Zealand filmmaker Peter Marra greatly appreciates the support of collaborators

• East Timorese filmmakers from Centro Audio Visual Max Stahl Timor Leste (CAMS).
  

• Tom Robeson and Sister Aurora Pires provided the stunning still's photography.

• East Timorese musicians including New Cinco do Oriente.
  

Biography / filmography

In 2001 Peter Marra made Emails from East Timor (later acquired and broadcast on Maori Television) and screened at the New Zealand International film festivals 2002 and the historic East Timor Human Rights Film Festival 2002

In 2003 he co organised Docomania [Pacific Rim Storeys] showcasing rare and quality documentaries from around the Pacific Rim with an environmental, human rights theme in New Zealand.

He made a short documentary called Happy Birthday Timor Leste in collaboration with photographers and filmmakers around the globe broadcast on a New York cable station on Boxing Day 2004.

He co founded Giving Voice Trust to attract funding for his next project from a diverse range of funding sources.

As in 2005 he began a collaboration with the Centro Audio Visual Max Stahl Timor Leste to document important developments the life of a child in the worlds newest and Asia s poorest nation A child he had started documenting as a 3 week old baby in 2001. Later returning in 2006 to find out what happened to the family and the child's school after and during tumultuous events as seen in Children of a Nation.

Review - by Marie Leadbeater

Independence was never going to be easy for Timor Leste, whose people bear the deep scars of the brutal 24 year long Indonesian occupation. ‘Children of a Nation’ does not spare us from the sad realities 8 years after liberation– grim poverty, grimmer unemployment and health statistics. (12 % of children do not live to see their 5th birthday.) Families cannot afford school fees. It is hard to escape the thought that the United Nations has not been very effective in its task of overseeing the reconstruction of the devastated nation.

Peter Marra blends the personal and political – telling us the poignant story of Tercia, a little girl he first met as a critically ill baby whose family needed his help to get to the hospital. With Peter’s help, Tercia’s family can send her to school – until the 2006 political turmoil and violence forces the family to join a mass exodus of 150,000 people from their homes.

Fortunately, not all aid misses the mark. Young people will be the ones to shape their nation’s post colonial identity and determine what will be kept from the cultures that were imposed on them. Director Peter Marra talks with dedicated teachers whose approach to education is refreshingly holistic.

The language debate in East Timor has echoes of the debate about Maori language immersion. It has been shown that children who begin their educational journey in their indigenous language are affirmed and valued and develop better literacy than those forced to study in an unfamiliar language. The Mary McKillop religious order, which has had a long association with Timor Leste has developed a successful literacy programme based on Tetun books and local stories.

It is good to know that Tercia and the children of Timor Leste have friends standing by them.

Maire Leadbeater
(Indonesia Human Rights Committee / former East Timor solidarity
activist/ author of "Negligent Neighbour: New Zealand's complicity in
the invasion and occupation of Timor Leste" Craig Potton 2006)