MEDIA RELEASE

Road Safety Film Hits the Streets

Released 25 September 2003

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

A road safety film produced by 14 Arabic-speaking young people in Western Sydney was recently launched and is now available for schools, community groups and youth centres.

Doing ‘happy laps’ around Western Sydney is what most of the young people do when they get their licence. Happy Lap Habibs is a short film made through a partnership with the Motor Accidents Authority, Silent Cells and the Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE),

Happy Lap Habibs weaves together a series of short dramas—from stories of road rage and mobile phone-induced accidents, to tales of succumbing to peer pressure and driving without a licence. The film was scripted, acted and produced by the participants. References to rap star 50 Cent, Arabic culture and media hype are interwoven to produce a comical and brazen film about road safety.

NSW Motor Accidents Authority (MAA) General Manger, David Bowen, congratulated the young people for creating a message their peers will listen to. “Young people aged 17-25 are more than twice as likely to be killed or injured on NSW roads than any other person. Giving young people the opportunity to own issues like speeding, drink-driving and driving without a seatbelt, is important to further reducing the youth injury and death toll on our roads,” he said.

“Made by young people for young people, we anticipate that ‘Happy Lap Habibs’ will be used by schools, youth centres and educators because it explores serious issues with humour and creativity,” said ICE Director Lena Nahlous.

Ahmad Sabra, 19, one of the filmmakers was surprised by what he learned during the intensive filmmaking workshop, “We were told that almost twenty percent of accidents are caused by young drivers like us. We’ve learnt so much about safe driving through the filmmaking workshop,” he said.

Digital music workshops resulted in the production of several songs, one of the rap songs ‘Yallah’ is particularly notable and is completely written and performed by Hala Chami, a young woman completing high school.

“This was an important pilot project of the SWITCH multimedia and digital arts access centre by providing an alternative model for young people to learn video and music editing skills,” said Ms Nahlous. SWITCH is a project of ICE in partneership with Parramatta City Council and The NSW Government – Ministry for the Arts.

To get your copy of the video ($10 which includes postage and handling) please phone Fadia Abboud on 9897 5744 (ext 9) or email.

Media Enquiries
Linda Mirabilio 02 9897 5744 ext 6 / email