Athlone teens the focus of new RTÉ documentary
When documentary filmmaker Maurice O'Brien first met Athlone teenagers Natasha Maimba and Minahil Sarfraz he, like many who have encountered them, was more than a little impressed.
“I came away thinking that either of these girls could be a future president of Ireland,” he said.
“I was so impressed by how articulate they were in talking about their experience of growing up in direct provision, but also how determined they were to really make a positive impact on the world.”
Natasha and Minahil, who last week received their Leaving Cert results in Our Lady's Bower, were filmed by Maurice at various stages over the last year for a documentary that will be televised by RTE this autumn.
The film will most likely air in November, and Natasha and Minahil were in Dublin to take part in the launch of RTE's autumn schedule today (Thursday).
They came to Ireland as children, from Zimbabwe and Pakistan, and became close friends while living with their mothers and siblings in the direct provision centre in Lissywollen. Both have since been granted their legal status in Ireland and have been serving with UNICEF as ambassadors for child refugees around the world.
Maurice, whose production company is Lifeblood Films, is the producer and co-director of the documentary, which is provisionally titled 'The Teenage Ambassadors'.
Over the last year he filmed Natasha and Minahil while they prepared for their Leaving Cert exams, and spent time around family and friends.
“We’ve been filming for almost a year now so after a while they almost stopped taking any notice of us, and it was the same with all their friends in school. They became used to us rocking up with a camera, and by the end we were almost part of the furniture,” he told the Westmeath Independent.
Our Lady's Bower was supportive of the project and facilitated the filming of gatherings such as parent-teacher meetings during the year.
Natasha and Minahil had “high expectations” heading into the exams, and the cameras were also there to capture Leaving Cert results day.
Maurice said he understood that both were happy with the CEO offers they had received for college last week.
He is hopeful that the documentary “will have an impact” and will get people talking.
“They are such inspiring characters that I think they will make a connection with people who see the film.
“Also, it’s coming up to the 20th anniversary of the introduction of direct provision and it’s still something that many people in Ireland don’t really know enough about.
“These two girls offer really compelling insights into what it’s like to grow up in that system but also show, through their example, how much immigrants have to offer Irish society.”
It's hoped there will be a cinema screening of the documentary in Athlone - for Natasha and Minahil's friends and school colleagues - before it goes out on national television.