My Interview with the Director of Alias Ruby Blade

 

As I saw sat through the film and the Q&A, so many questions were floating through my mind and so I though I would ask and raised my hand but as usual my delayed reactions, the time was ending and so I had to rush to catch hold of Alex, he was a real gentleman and stopped in the corridor to speak to me , I was a bit apprehensive as I heard a comment from one of his friend " oh! he is being held by some one with an IPad and felt very small because I knew I was delaying him but he was being kind and polite but I as a hard nosed reporter thought I must ask.


The Q&A


As we were researching temorians, we found out about xanana




The Film -Alias Ruby Blade: A story of love and Revolution

Director- Alex Meillier                    www.aliasrubyblade.com

 
 
Interview By Tashi Khan

Help & Assistance- Neeley Lara Gail

 

 

 

The Interview

Q: Are people still poor in East Timor?

Alex: Outside of Dilli the majority are an agrarian civilization which has a self sustaining  way of life that has been going on for thousands of years.  After the referendum they started from scratch. It was an unprecedented effort.  Poverty is one of the biggest problems because in order to build a sustainable democracy you need to educate people and clean water, electricity and good roads help.

Q: Can other countries help?

Alex: They are, countries such as USA, UK and Japan are providing help. It is critical that this type of nation building is a success. The people of East Timor are inspiring others to show that it is possible to build a new nation in the 21^st century.  USAid, Ausaid and Oxfam are continuing to help even though the UN are leaving.

Tashi Khan with Alex

Q: In your Q&A you said the people are multilingual, Why are the people of East Timor multilingual?

It is inherent with the Timorese and their culture that they speak other languages. East Timor is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the World. Most people will speak the language of their village and Tetto and Portuguese and Indonesian. I believe the reason they speak so many languages is because it is a friendly place. They like to speak
 to people and learn other languages. East Timor is a fascinating place.

Q: In your film the people looked poor. Why?

 Alex: You are thinking of the part when the UN troops arrive by helicopter. The people who were cheering them were refugees who came down from hiding in the mountains. That is why they did not have much.

Tashi: Congratulations
Alex:Thank you