Tom Parry
A FILM screening is being hosted this week for the benefit of current and ex-service personnel.
The Defence & Veterans Legal Service (D&VLS) and Victorian Veteran Family Services are jointly presenting the event, which is being run to promote and provide support regarding the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
D&VLS solicitor Steven Baras-Miller is helping publicise the event, and spoke to the Gippsland Times about its importance.
“One of the roles of Defence and Veterans Legal Service is community education about the Royal Commission, and the support we provide to current and former members of the ADF and their families (to) engage with the Royal Commission,” Mr Baras-Miller said.
“Nobody wants to come to hear a lawyer make a PowerPoint presentation about any subject, let alone mental health and a Royal Commission.
“We wanted an event that would bring the community together and something people would actually want to go to, so a film night with a presentation that was more like a conversation with the community seemed like a good way of going about it.”
The movie chosen for the screening is the 2022 British drama Living.
Based on Akira Kurosawa’s famed 1952 film Ikuru, it tells of a lifelong bureaucrat coming to terms with his cancer diagnosis.
Mr Baras-Miller describes Living as “the perfect film at the perfect time”.
“It does not contain anything about war or the military, but has an underlying theme about finding a way to live a productive life in the face of trauma and illness,” he said.
“These are issues at the core of many of our clients’ lived experience, and this film provides an excellent opportunity to explore them without re-traumatising people.”
D&VLS has hosted similar events in recent weeks, including at Melbourne’s Cinema Nova.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of previous screenings has been hearing from people about how they saw their own experience reflected in the film,” Mr Baras-Miller said.
“Because we are involving a range of different groups, not just our own service, it has meant that people offering different services have been able to meet and collaborate.
“We have had people who specialise in equine therapy meet people who offer art therapy at our screenings.
“They are now looking at combining their work and finding new ways to support veterans and their families.”
The Sale screening shall be preceded by a discussion from a five-member panel, all representatives from local organisations which assist veterans and their families.
Following the film, attendees will have the opportunity to put questions toward and speak with those same representatives about what support and services they can offer.
Mr Baras-Miller added that the screening is open to all.
“This is not an event just for veterans or current service people. It is for the whole community, because the issues at the centre of the Royal Commission effect everybody,” he said.
The event will take place next Wednesday, March 15 from 6.30pm at Sale Cinema.
Tickets for the event can be purchased through the venue’s box-office or online: www.salecinema.com.au
More information about the D&VLS is available via defenceveteranslegalservice.org.au
