The film which was projected at Sydney festival  raises up since last week a number of reactions, and was equally a subject of  a campaign of disinformation , where the Polisario led by  Mohamed Abdel Aziz for more than 30 years , have brought Fatim the main personality of the film to Australia , in order to deny being a slave .

 As it was told by the two filmmakers of the documentary, initially the aim of the trip to Tindouf camps was to produce a report about the UN supervised family reunion program, between those who live in the Polisario camps and those who live in the Sahara region in the south of Morocco.

 They were confronted about statements made by Fatim, who was separated from her mother Embarka, and brought to the camps by her master Dailo. , who is the daughter of the owner of Embarka.

   After being evicted from Tindouf refugee camps, because of the revelation of the affair, Violeta Ayala, and Dan Fallshaw have produced a documentary out of the rushes, this documentary shows Fatim and her mother Embarka’s statements in addition to others.

 During the interview at the National Australian Radio ABC, Dan Fallshaw explained the conditions of filming their documentary : “ Leil you are referring to, and who was on the phone was extremely upset at that time and they are not the only people who told us their stories , there are several people on the film who spoke against slavery , and they  want the story to be heard , there was a group of men who travelled 2000 kms across the desert  to come and tell  their own stories to us  , whereas we did not know if  our tapes were stolen  or not , and if we  could  tell the story .”

 He added that “Fatim was separated from her mother when she was 3 years old, she did not travel to the camps until she was a bit older, she was taken away from her mother because “Embarka” (fatim’s mother) was a slave to dailo’s father, and Dailo from what Embarka told us, always wanted Fatim as her own and she took her away from Embarka when she was 3 years old”.

“We felt we had a moral obligation to tell this story “added Dan, the co- filmmaker of                   “Stolen”.  His colleague Violetta Ayala indicates that “There are nine people in the film, who talked about slavery; this film is about our experiences, our story and what happened to us. How people came to us and told us this story. It is about every viewer of the film to make up his mind”.

 In the documentary, Embarka (Fatim’s mother) tells her story with her master who treats her as a slave, and with whom she has several children, underlying that her daughter was equally treated as a slave by the daughter of the latter.

 The documentary equally brings some poignant evidence, among others one testimony of a woman who has presented before cameras her liberation certificate.
 “If you dare to talk about slavery, they put you in a prison, or you simply disappear” asserted this woman.

 Answering a question asked by the journalist Fran Kelly , about the meaning of the word       “ slavery”, Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw said : “ inside the camps , some sahraouis of black skin ,  consider themselves  slaves , this means  that they  are possessed by somebody else”.

 No film projected in the Sydney cinema festival, which ended the 14th of last June, has raised up such lively debate, as “Stolen” did.

 After he failure of every attempt made by the Polisario to stop showing this film at  Melbourne film festival  ( 24 July- 9august), the management of the festival made it clear that this film will be  projected during this edition Friday 31 of  July .

 Futile attempts to bury the documentary

 In their offensive, Polisario supporters have gathered together foreign journalists who do sympathise with their thesis, in order to send reports which go along with their thesis , by arguing that  victims filmed in “Stolen” withdraw their statements, on the basis that  they have been offered money by the filmmakers in order to confirm that their slaves.

 Kamel Fadel, the Polisario representative in Australia recognised the fact that the victims have been controlled during the action led by Polisario’s supporters against the film.

 Concerning Fatim’s arrival to Australia, he said: “it was not us who invited her; she was invited by the Australian association for Western Sahara (AWSA), and members of federal parliament.”He made this statement during the same program at ABC‘s radio about the film. But he recognized, at least, that he paid the trip for her:  “she is here in Sydney with the Australian Association for the Western Sahara “AWSA”, we have paid the tickets for her to come “.

 Kamal fadel has tempted to  criticize the quality of translation of statements madder by people interviewed in the documentary, they accused the filmmakers to have made the victims say what they have not said. The supporters of the documentary have reminded that “a large party of the documentary was translated and broadcasted by AL – Jazera satellite TV.

 All these attempts were a failure; even the international organizations recognize the slavery practices, according to the Australian filmmakers “ …. When we were talking about slavery on the ground , the UN officials  say they did not know that it exits but when we travelled to Geneva , the deputy director for North Africa in the UN organizations said that they know it exists in the area where the refugee camps .”

 Several voices rose up to denounce this reality, particularly in the Australian media. As to Romana Cacchioli , of the organisation against slavery has asserted  that all sequences of the  documentary are truthful, he said to  3Brisbane Times” newspaper , that such similar cases do exist and were mentioned by the Spanish media .

 During the evening of the 11th of June the day of projection of the documentary, Polisario supporters have tempted hopelessly to make this film festival a political event. They have brought Fatim from Tindouf camps straight to the Cinema which is situated at Boulevard June Georges in Sydney.   The fact of the matter is that she was brought to Australia, while she left behind in Tindouf camps her children, to make sure that her answer remains in agreement with what she was told to say.  Dan Fallshaw said in this respect:  “   We spoke briefly to her last night and all she said they told her not to talk to us”.

 Ayala deplored in a press conference the terror that Fatim; had to experience:” I talked on the phone with her mother and her brother who told me that she was forced to leave the camps, we did not want her to leave her children, when we talked to her, we only heard echoes of fear and terror.  She is extremely scared and can not express herself” Ayala said.

  The people in charge of the festival and several Australian filmmakers have supported the documentary. The executive director of Sydney‘s festival, Mark Sarfety, has asserted that       “the choice to project this film is appropriate, it is not our job to act as legislator or censor     ..
 Violetta  Ayala criticised some media, which  without watching the movie ,  asked for the movie not to be projected , and added that the officials of the festival have been warned that Polisario  “will   divert the main aspect of the movie , which tells the misery of the camps , and slavery  in order to make a political issue out of it”   “ we have done a research , it is an objective  documentary  and not a fruit of imagination. It explained some hard problems in Tindouf camps. If he UN are not able to solve this 30 year old conflict, who are we to give this film a political aspect?  . I t is Polisario which is seeking to divert realities” she said .
“The Polisario was successful to mobilize its supporters here, but their cause is lost” noted Tom Zubrycki, the film producer, who has got a long experience ion the production of documentaries; he added “how could we deny realities brought in this film?”

  It is worth mentioning that the film “Stolen “was financed by the movie organism “screen Australia”

 Corcas
News and events concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas