An award-winning Eynesbury podcaster, filmmaker, and musician is sharing the stories of migrants – including those living in Melton – through his latest film, set to be presented with live soundtracking in Carlton next month.
Eynesbury resident Simon Reich has been touring his latest multimedia project across Australia, which includes filmed interviews with people from various European countries on one screen, migrants’ own photographs and videos on a second screen with immersive sound design complementing the touching stories.
This is also soundtracked by a quartet of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra members and live grand piano.
Reich said he was inspired by his father, who immigrated to Australia from war-torn Berlin, and his multimedia show is “nothing like a dry and dusty history lesson.“
“It is a multimedia presentation, and the migrants tell of their war experiences, why they wanted to travel to the other side of the world, and how they fared in their newly adopted country,” Reich said.
“At times it’s tragic, disheartening and racist, but ultimately, it’s a feel-good story of gutsy and inspirational people who created the backbone of Australian society,” he said.
“With war in Ukraine and Israel and continuing hostility towards migrants, this project shows that Australia and the world still has a lot to learn about what happened in the past.”
The interviews featured in this show formed the basis for Reich’s documentary titled Bonegilla: The Migrant’s Journey, which was recently selected in the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival as one of 30 films from thousands of entries across the world.
The film features former migrants, some who live in the Melton municipality, and all the editing, post-production and soundtrack music recording were completed in Reich’s Eynesbury recording studio.
As part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival next month, Bonegilla: The Migrant’s Journey will be presented with a live piano and violin soundtrack at 7.30pm on Friday, July 25 at Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon Street, Carlton.
Details: cinemanova.com.au/films/mdff-bonegilla-the-migrants-journey
