This movie, screened at the International Harm Reduction Film Festival in Porto, depicts how a peer support worker, Colin, works with Aboriginal men in a remote Australian location.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have experienced racism, dispossession, and forced removal of children since European colonisation in 1788. As a result, inter-generational trauma, high incarceration rates, poor health, and problematic drug and alcohol use have been significant factors in early death, community and inter-personal violence, and family separation. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the world’s oldest surviving culture, and continue to find their own ways to heal.
Colin is an Aboriginal drug and alcohol support worker based in Bega on the New South Wales south coast. He works from a harm reduction standpoint, using his own lived experience to connect with other men. In this film Colin explains how he views his role and what sustains him in it. We also hear from some of the men Colin works with, including his colleague Dennis, about how peer support works and how it fits with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community practices. Mudjilali means mate or friend in the Yuin language of the region.
Directed by Richard Mockler
Produced by Julaine Allan
