Documentary | Filmmaker: Refugees still a taboo topic in the city

Filipa Queiroz

Refugees play a vital part in Macau’s history, although sadly it’s not the kind of stories residents hear every day, revealed Filipa Queiroz, director of “Boat People,” a local documentary to be premiered on May 10 at the Cultural Center, as part of the Macao Indies section of the International Film and Video Festival (MIFVF).
Although the TDM journalist has long-planned to film a documentary on refugees, she admitted that it wasn’t easy to look for ex-refugees in Macau, until she received an e-mail from a former refugee who was willing to share his story.
The director believes that the film’s concept is to discuss a subject that continues to be a “taboo” in Macau to the point that it is not even mentioned in local schools’ history books.
“I guess there was a difficulty, especially in the Chinese community, to talk about this”, said Queiroz. “I think refugees are heroes because they were brave enough to go out of their comfort zones and go on an adventure,” she added.
Meanwhile, the director told the Times that journalism plays a huge part in producing documentary films, claiming that this entire documentary is  based on old magazine articles and newspapers.
“During the filming of the documentary, the main characters told us that everybody was busy with something else and the Vietnamese refugees weren’t an important discussion,” she revealed.
She believes that in this generation, filmmakers try to portray refugees and migrants as “desperate characters,” adding that such stereotyping is unnecessary.
“We decided to create the movie with a spirit of courage and positivity because we shouldn’t look at them with pity,” she said. “It’s a desperate situation but it doesn’t have to be told in such a way.”
Last year Ms Queiroz won an award at the competition “48 Rush Hours” (included in the MIFVF), with “The Bicycle Diaries.” Staff reporter