By Mery Kanashiro (October 9, 2003)

The International Club will be hosting a field trip to attend a screening of the "Rabbit Proof Fence" tonight at the Reston Town Center from 6 to 10:15. Transportation will be provided. The screening, sponsored by Amnesty International, will be followed by a question and answer session with the director, Phillip Noyce. 

Imagine that you are 1,500 miles from home…in the middle of the burning desert… separated from everyone you know and love—and only 10 years old.

"Rabbit-Proof Fence," the internationally acclaimed movie from director Phillip Noyce ("Patriot Games," "The Quiet American") is the epic story of three young Australian aboriginal girls who get abducted from their homes and sent to "mission" camps hundreds of miles away. The girls were considered "half-caste"--that is, they were borne of a white father, and an aboriginal mother. It was common practice in Australia, until the early 1970’s, to take half-caste children by force from their tribes in the Outback and send them to training camps far away to learn how to be "white." Molly, Daisy, and Gracie were just three of the thousands of victims, known as the "stolen generation", subjected to the harsh and degrading conditions of the settlements. The three of them managed to escape their tormentors, and the movie then recounts their amazing journey in the desert to escape their pursuers and to find the "rabbit-proof fence" that will lead them home.

The movie is a true story based on the book of the same name by Doris Pilkington Garimana, the niece of Daisy. It co-stars Kenneth Branaugh, and contains a Grammy-award nominated musical score by musician Peter Gabriel.

The International Club will be hosting a field trip to go see a FREE screening of "Rabbit-Proof Fence" at the Reston Town Center, Thursday, October 9, from 6:00-10:15 PM. Transpiration will be provided to and from the school. The screening, sponsored by Amnesty International, will be followed by a question and answer session with the director, Phillip Noyce. Don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the best films of the year!

Permission slips are available outside of Room A-114 (Mrs. Gantz’s room). Everyone is invited to attend!