As Worlds Divide will screen at Great Lakes Library next Tuesday, June 27 at 6pm, with catering provided. 

The film follows Australian surfer and documentary film maker, Rob Henry, who has spent the last nine years living among the Mentawai people, an ancient forest dwelling tribe whose way of life depends solely on the forest and natures provisions.

Rob will be attending the Forster screening and will be available for a Q&A after the film on his experience and people of Mentawai. 

“I was intrigued by the Mentawai people, their level of freedom and happiness, and wanted to understand what they were doing differently to us,” Rob said.

“At the same time, I also found that the Mentawai faced their own challenges – how to maintain their language, culture and identity in the face of increasing commercialisation and acculturation.”

Rob formed the Indigenous Education Foundation – a vehicle to support community-based initiatives aimed at preventing long-term poverty amongst displaced Indigenous peoples, achieved through the development of educational programs built around the preservation and utilisation of their cultural knowledge, customs and local environment. During his stay in the Mentawai Islands, Rob learnt the local language and immersed himself in the Mentawai’s everyday living.

He also made a documentary film as part of a plan to assist the Mentawai in maintaining their culture.

In response to the threats to Mentawai’s culture, language and way of life, Rob has been working closely with the Indigenous Mentawai community to develop a Cultural and Environmental Education Program (CEEP).

The goal is to raises one million dollars for Indigenous education. There are plans to build a cultural education centre, publish a Mentawai dictionary and develop a new model of eco-tourism to enable sustainability.