Captions by Florence S. Fournier Edited by Jake Ebdale. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 (LAUGHTER) I grew up in Baghdad until war broke out and it became unsafe. After a long journey of uncertainty, we found home in New Zealand. Do you even remember how it was back in Iraq, like when you was young? I remember the war, that part I remember ` no electricity and no water and no food. Since then, I've tried to fit in and be a Kiwi. So, what was it like being an Iraqi in New Zealand? It was really hard having to say all the stories again or bring up the war and bring up what it was like. Sometimes I used to say` when they asked me, 'Where are you from?', I'd say, 'I'm from Mars.' (LAUGHS) My name is Lily Saddawi, and I'm an events coordinator and a first-generation Kiwi. New Zealand is the best, but blending in has come with a sacrifice. I almost totally lost connection with the Middle Eastern community and my faith, and that's making me really unhappy. I live at home with Mum and Dad, and my brother, Sam, lives with his wife, Judy. My parents gave up everything they had to give us a better life here, and I'm really grateful for that. (BIRD SQUAWKS) OK, OK. Good boy. Give me a kiss. IMITATES: Give me a kiss! Give me a kiss! We are Mandaeans, which is an ancient religion that follows the teachings of John the Baptist. We're a very small community worldwide. My parents uphold the faith, but, to be honest, I rarely have anything to do with it now. So, do you feel like now you are a Mandaean, an Iraqi and a Kiwi? So, what was it like for you when we fled Iraq? What about you, Dad? What's your Kiwi life been like? I guess I am proud of` really proud of being Iraqi as well as being Kiwi, but... I feel that I've, sort of, blended in too much. I want to be able to, kind of, be like you. (UPBEAT MUSIC) My parents are very inspirational. I feel I owe it to them to stay true to where I come from. My brother, Sam, is doing good things for the community, and right now he's organising a Middle Eastern concert with his wife, Judy. I've been doing some soul-searching, and I just feel really disconnected. As humans, we always want to fit in. We always want to belong to a group, but, you know, you just have to not shy away from accepting, you know, your old life as well as your new life. How's the concert going? I think it's gonna be a mammoth task, but if it does work out, it's going to be the biggest Arab culture event in New Zealand. Keen to be a part of it? Um... I would really like to. I mean, that's kind of what I've been secretly wishing for anyway, in the background, but I didn't want to be pushy, because, you know, it is your event. But I really want to help you and Judy. I really wanna give this my best shot. So, this could be a really good way for you to connect with the community. OK. I'm so excited! Let's go. Have you actually thought about the ASB Theatre? Yeah, it's one of the better options. We need a big venue. My brother is so awesome. Being involved in this concert is going to be incredible. The headline act is Kadim Al Sahir, and he's the most famous Iraqi singer in the world. (SINGS 'KITAB AL HOBB') He's been a judge on the Arabic version of 'The Voice', and he's my favourite singer. Kadim can bring so much joy to the Middle Eastern community here, and it's going to be a great opportunity for me to bring the whole community together and be a part of it. (RELAXED MUSIC) My friend, Di, and I are meeting up with my brother, Sam. The venue has been booked, and I want to check it out. Wow! Wow. It's so pretty. Look at this place! This is totally majestic. You know what? I think Kadim will really like this. I really like the... Seating. ...the seating. It's, like, really` it's all like, level and... There is literally not a bad spot in the whole place. For me, this looks even better than the pictures, better than what it looked like online, so, I have a good feeling about this place, and, I guess, the dream is to have this place filled ` that's 2000 people of the community in one place. Hm, yeah. Do you think it's doable? We are aiming to get 10% of all the Arab population in New Zealand. Imagine Kadim going like this. We obviously want the` you know, the tickets to be affordable, but we also want` we have a lot of costs to cover. It's really comes down to how many tickets we can sell. At least break even so we can continue to do more events. I think the venue's absolutely beautiful. It's` We just need to worry about what's gonna go in the venue right now. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) Seeing the venue today has really brought it home how big this event's going to be. We put the tickets at an affordable price, so I feel good about that, but now it's all about putting it all together and not letting Kadim or the community down. (UPBEAT MUSIC) I've got here, fresh off the print, our last edition of the flyer. This is the one we're gonna go with. OK. How many tickets have we sold as of today? Well, you know, we're almost around a thousand at the moment. Yeah, with this number, we're looking at about 250 more or thereabouts to break even. If we don't hit the 250 mark and we end up with a loss, I don't think we're gonna be able to do any future events. There's a lot at stake that's hanging on this event for us. So what's the plan? How are we going to do this? Maybe just hand out flyers, talk to people directly ` you know, put a face to a name ` you know, so people know who they're dealing with. Like, whoever is gonna buy the ticket says, 'Yeah, I've spoken to Lily. She sold me a ticket off of` She told me about the concert. 'There's an opportunity for you to, you know, find that missing piece.' Just having that interaction with people and getting to know them and getting out there and it's like, 'Hello, I still exist,' you know? 'I'm still here.' That really means a lot to me. (MELLOW ELECTRONIC MUSIC) Back in Iraq, we used to meet all the time ` cousins and aunties and uncles. Now when we are spread out, we just don't have the community feeling. So, the challenge is how to reach these people that we haven't reached before. Don't be nervous. Just be yourself. We're gonna do it. Don't be nervous. You can do it. Thank you. Hi, guys. Hello. How are you? I'll give you a flyer. He's bringing a band with him as well. At the very beginning, when I was walking to the place, I was very nervous. As soon as I talked to the first person, it's like, 'This is quite cool.' Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. Hello. Hi. Feeling that sense of, just, community and belonging, it just means a lot. It just brings back those really nice memories we used to have of us hanging out. I feel a little bit closer to my goal. It was really, really good experience at the end ` still nerve-racking but really good. (UPBEAT MUSIC) So, I'm very excited today, because I'm about to meet two refugees who are new to New Zealand. They have heard of the concert and they really want to come, but most of the refugees, you know, they're come with nothing. So we're very excited to surprise them with two tickets to the concert. (UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES) Hi, guys. Welcome to New Zealand. It's very nice to have you here. (SPEAKS ARABIC) You guys will really like it here, I'm sure. (MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC) Those two men have been through so much just to get here, and you'll probably find this is true for many Arabs. More than ever, I feel like the Kadim Al Sahir concert is really needed to bring joy into the community. (MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC CONTINUES) (ELECTRONIC MUSIC) It's three weeks till the concert, and I'm worried that we're not going to reach the whole community cos they're so spread out across New Zealand, but getting people together is so important to me. I'm really worried that if we don't get this right, we're going to actually have to cancel. Times like this, I really need my girlfriends for support, so I'm going to see my two friends, Dee and Ghadair. Hello. Hello. Come in. Hello. So, how's it going for your tickets and stuff? We were actually thinking about pulling the plug... because there may not be enough people. Are you serious? Yeah. Decision to go ahead or not? Lily, you're doing an event for people who have lived in wars; people who have struggled, who lost families, who were forced out of their homes. Kadim Al Sahir not only sings about love; he also sings about Baghdad, the home town. He sings about wars. If you need help, we are all in this together. But do not even think about cancelling, because I'm not gonna let you. I'm willing to help you. We'll do what it takes to make it happen. (MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC) There's Lily! Hi! Hi. Hello. All right. So, the pressure is on to sell tickets. I've got my two friends, G and Dee, who are gonna help me today. Bit nervous. Kadim Al Sahir is coming. Come on! YOLO. And you're bringing him. So proud of you. Some flyers for my two favourites. All right, cool. Let's do this. Yay! (LAUGHTER) Hi. Do you know Kadim Al Sahir? Of course. Who doesn't? Oh really? That's awesome. How do you know him yourself? I'm from Iraq. Really?! Whereabouts? From Baghdad. Ah, that's where I'm from originally too. Cool! I've been a little bit, sort of, out of touch with the community, so I'm trying to do, like, more community events ` just bring all the people together. Good on you. Good on you. We need more people like you. Bring your wife. My wife is a big fan of him. Oh really? Yeah. (LAUGHS) So are we. Have you ever been to an Arabic concert? Hi. Hello. Come to our event. OK. One, two, go. (RELAXING MUSIC) I'm loving being out there, connecting with the Arab community, but there's still a long way to go. I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to make this concert as successful as possible to bring the community together. Tickets are selling, but I'm still really nervous, and I really need some peace right now, and I'm hoping that my dad and my Mandaean faith can help me with that. Dad has suggested I draw strength from my religion. This whole experience for me has been about reconnecting with my community and getting in touch with my roots. So taking time to think about my Mandaean faith is hugely important right now. (FUNKY MUSIC) It's been a long time since I've practised my Mandaean faith with my dad. I really can learn a lot from him. (RECITES MANDAEAN PRAYER) (REPEATS MANDAEAN PRAYER) (CONTINUES RECITING MANDAEAN PRAYER) I used to enjoy practising the religion in Iraq, but when we shifted to New Zealand, the cultural activities and the religious rituals, they took a backseat. Being in New Zealand, it's not a big community. Just the fact that three of us are sitting right here, next to this fresh water, is great on its own. I'm glad that you could pass on your knowledge and your faith down to us. Being so disconnected for so long, I feel like I've forgotten what that feels like, to feel that sort of peace. And now, being next to the water, it just feels really good. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) (BIRD CHIRPS) Tomorrow is the big night, isn't it? Yeah. So, how do you feel now? It's still quite stressful, but I feel like I am managing this better now, because I feel like I have grown and I'm no longer focusing on just, you know, just the money. It is a big community event, and it's about the people. It's about giving them a night of happiness. So really looking forward to it. Awesome. The part I'm excited about is actually seeing all the community in one place and just... and just welcoming them all to the concert. Kadim Al Sahir is a very nice person, and he is a comprehensive artist. Yeah. And he is gonna give our community a very joyful night and a great night. It's going to be an awesome show ` very exciting. Yeah. (MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC) Right. This is like the zero hour. This is the day. It's in front of our whole community, so it is very important that we succeed and we can really deliver what we promised. (PLAYS MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC) So, despite the stress, I opened my eyes this morning, and I'm like, 'Oh my God. 'The day I'm going to meet my idol ` the best Iraqi singer ever, Kadim Al Sahir.' (MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC) (BOTH SPEAK ARABIC) (BOTH LAUGH) (TENSE MUSIC) We just worked out how much sales we have. We're still getting calls, and people are still after some tickets. (SPEAKS ARABIC) Wow. There are heaps of people here, and they're excited. I'm just delighted. I can't believe it's all coming together. This is really a dream come true for me. Hi. How are you? Nice to see you. Hi. (SPEAKS ARABIC) Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Right, so, Kadim is here, and the theatre's filling up, and the show's going to start any minute now. It's a bit surreal ` like, it's happening, but it's not happening. (CROWD CHEERS) (CROWD SCREAMS DELIGHTEDLY, APPLAUDS, WHISTLES) (SPEAKS ARABIC) (BAND PLAYS SOOTHING INTRO) (SINGS IN ARABIC) I'm so happy right now. I can't tell you how much I'm buzzing. Before all of this began, I felt so disconnected from the community and guilty that I'd let my Mandaean faith slip away. (BAND PLAYS UPBEAT RHYTHMIC PATTERN) Tonight was a huge success for me. I'm really, really happy with what I've done. Really happy. (CONTINUES SINGING IN ARABIC) The show has provided a little piece of Iraq in Auckland, and I achieved my goal of bringing joy to people who suffered. We managed to bring people together. The one thing I learnt is to really embrace being myself and celebrate all parts of me. And now I can proudly say I am at peace with being both Iraqi and Kiwi. Captions by Florence S. Fournier Edited by Jake Ebdale. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 Supporting local content so you can see more of...