Faith Tuitea: Falling for Sahara Review

Falling for Sahara directed by Khoa Do is a film set in the suburban streets of Melbourne of three immigrated teenage boys all finding themselves falling for the same girl. Throughout the film the boys experience conflict, racism, high expectations from loved ones, problems with equality that make them question whether Australia is the place them. They express their friendship, bond and companionship through their love and dedication of Australian football. The film also displays the problems they face being accepted as refugees within the Australian community and the only person who seems to understand their frustration and confusion is the beautiful Sahara. Let alone do they realize Sahara is also facing difficulties of accepting her culture and traditions in which she desperately tries to change.

The script for this film however I thought wasn’t as good as some lines were predictable and ‘corny’. The acting however was alright considering the film was produced on a tight budget and it was great that the actors in the film could relate their own personal experiences to their characters which was extremely inspiring.

Many events take place throughout the film having it’s up and downs. Although in my opinion I felt there was no actual meaning to the film and the storyline felt a little pointless and predictable. I also felt that there was too much going on which sort of confused the audience trying to keep up with the message the film was trying to deliver. I didn’t really enjoy the film due to it lacking in creativity but it did still have some potential.

If I could try and connect the film to everyday life refugees trying to adjust to the Australian culture is definitely not easy in terms of language, discrimination and their own culture, traditions, morals and beliefs. You see in the media people judging others and creating stereotypes but I guess Falling for Sahara gives us a reality of what refugees are going through and that maybe we need to question whether how we are treating them as a whole is fair.

Although I didn’t enjoy the movie as much as I thought I would I took a lot of the film and saw things from a refugee’s point of view. It also made me realize that they are finding it difficult to adjust to a new country and us not accepting them as a whole isn’t helpful at all and for that I rate Falling for Sahara 3 out of 5.