One of the characteristics I especially appreciate about some of my friends (especially when they’re a plus one at a work event) is being able to talk to anyone. Not the type that are merely networkers, because that can come across as horribly phoney (sorry if you’ve been practicing your ‘interested look’, it probably doesn’t work as well as you think). I’m talking about those who are genuinely interested in people and their stories.
Auckland, the gorgeous city I live in has a bit over a million people living in it and we are from all over the place. Hardly anyone I know grew up here and that is what makes us a fascinating bunch (with delicious international food!)
The other day, someone posted a note at work that our colleague Sirwan’s documentary Relocated Mountains would be showing soon on Maori Television. I’d heard he had made a documentary before coming to work with us, but reading a little bit about it reminded me how little we know so many people we say hi to at work. Here’s some of the blurb from ITVS (whoever they are). There’s a clip there too.
When Sirwan Namo was just a boy his family fled Iraq during the Kurdish genocide of Saddam Hussein’s regime. He and his family would eventually find a new home in New Zealand as political refugees. Now, in the face of escalating violence, Sirwan risks his life to retrace his journey to freedom and to fulfill his promise to be reunited with his dying grandmother.
You can watch Relocated Mountains on Saturday 4 December at 8:30pm (or MySky it bro). I think it’ll be well worth a watch.
…On the subject of documentaries, I’d like to say how totally excited I am about seeing the Young @ Heart Chorus perform in a weeks time. The movie is a completely delightful (and tearjerking) story about a bunch of elderly folk who truly know how to rock. I want to be as cool as them when I get old.
Here’s the trailer to the movie. Or come and see them live.
