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The 12 SIEVed Years

As spring brings new hope to Australia, The 12 SIEVed Years poetically unravels the decade-long struggles of refugees torn from their families, trapped by restrictive policies, and longing for a place to call home amidst an enduring state of uncertainty.

  • Musa Yawari
    Director
  • Ruowei Tian
    Producer
  • Anoushka Vaidya
    Co Director
  • Anoushka Vaidya
    Soud Recordist / Designer
  • Emily Malczewski
    Music Composer
  • Ruowei Tian
    Cinematography
  • Musa Yawari
    Cinematography
  • Musa Yawari
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English, Hindi, Persian, Urdu
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - The University of Sydney
Director Biography - Musa Yawari

Musa Yawari is an emerging filmmaker who works on fiction and non-fiction projects. Currently based in Sydney but born and raised in one of the most high-risk areas in Pakistan, Quetta, his love for telling human stories started with taking photos of the aftermath of suicide blasts and terrorist attacks.
Having educational background from the University of Sydney, University of Texas at Austin and National College of Arts, Lahore, he has been telling stories as a writer, director, and cinematographer. He has penned down two feature films both because of an exchange program at Austin and one of the first screenwriting programs in Pakistan, Qalambaaz. Working as a Video Journalist at the BBC News for six years, Musa explored different areas of Pakistan in pursuit of telling untold stories. As a BBC trainer, he has trained his colleagues the art of effective storytelling. He specialises working under pressure as a producer and director in high-risk regions.
Musa has been part of multiple fellowship programs in Pakistan; Pakistan Photo Festival and Goethe Institute’s Film Talents Program. He has been working on the topics of migration, human trafficking, terrorism, and its aftermath. Currently, he is developing his feature documentary If I were a Prophet.

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Director Statement

I grew up in Quetta, Pakistan, constantly hearing news about people attempting to reach Australia and European countries illegally. My earliest memory of migration is of a relative who travelled to Australia in the early 2000s and never returned. He was on board with many others, and to this day, no one in his family knows what happened to them. His wife still waits for him and never married. Fast forward 10 years, and another wave of migrants attempts to enter Australia, with both successful and unsuccessful stories. One thing that remains common in all these journeys is the hope that drives these migrants to seek a new home where they can live freely. The reasons are numerous – escaping oppression, poverty and censorship are just a few.

During all these years another thing which I was witnessing were the attacks against my community because of our identity and ethnicity. I personally survived multiple suicide bombings and as a storyteller witnessed the miseries of people affected. This was the other reason for people to leave their own country and make a foreign land their home.

The 12 SIEVed Years tries to unravel the stories of migrants who arrived in Australia between 2012 and 2013, only to face new laws imposed by the government under “Operation Sovereign Borders” (OSB). These migrants were granted bridging visas with numerous restrictions, including inability to travel outside Australia, and were left uncertain about their legal status in the country without a definitive visa. Ironically, many found themselves trapped in the same limbo they had fled from in their own homeland.

This film attempts to delve deep into the minds of those who were left in limbo for 10 years – people who lost a decade of their lives without their families, without seeing their children grow up, and who, despite hoping for freedom, were confined by a restrictive visa status. Their hopes gradually turned to despair as they survived not only the oppression in their home countries and the perilous sea journey but also the longest decade of their lives. Last year, the government granted these individuals permanent visas. The film captures the beauty of spring’s arrival and the migratory birds returning to Australia, contrasting it with the psychological and physical confinement these migrants endured.