Akolkol Dastan Gesa

This program first started in 2018 when 40 young participants from Aranmore Catholic College’s Intensive English Centre worked with a team of professional artists to create a music video. The team included producer/director Poppy van Oorde-Grainger, musician Scott “Optamus” Griffiths, dancer Rita Nita, writer David Vincent Smith, cinematographer Matsu and filmmaker Gemma Parsons.

The music video was released for Harmony Week 2018 and broadcast on national television, radio and online to an audience of 500K. The young people went on to perform their song at the 20,000 person State Of The Art festival and win a West Australian Song of the Year award and Best Micro Short award at the Social Justice Film Festival in USA. The project was supported by project partners Beyond Empathy, Aranmore Catholic College, DADAA and Community Arts Network and assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

We are currently fundraising for the 2025 version of the program here.