A famous American actress was dancing about a Unanderra laundry mid-last year with the results of her visit now on show.
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One of the stars of television’s American Horror Story, Jamie Brewer, took the lead in a short film showcasing the potential of people in the community who are often overlooked.
Kill Off was filmed on location at the Flagstaff Group’s commercial laundry alongside others with intellectual disabilities, a large number from the Illawarra.
The movie will have its Wollongong premier at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre on Friday.
The storyline is based on the unlikely friendship between a woman and a Sudanese refugee who have a mutual love of street dance.
Joni Campbell, 22, has been studying film-making for around two years and worked on the film, finding the experience inspiring.
“It’s not every day I get to meet Jamie Brewer; it was amazing meeting her, she’s really lovely and very inspiring,” she said.
Just because you’ve got a disablity doesn't mean you can’t do it and you can’t let that define who you are.
- Joni Campbell
“She inspires me because she’s showing that just because you’ve got a disablity doesn't mean you can’t do it and you can’t let that define who you are.
“And if you have a dream, go for it and don’t let anything stand in your way or stop you from doing it.”
Award-winning director Genevieve Clay-Smith led a team from Bus Stop Films, a non-profit organisation that collaborates with budding film-makers of variying abilities and those from margionlised communities.
They worked with employees from the Flagstaff Group, an Illawarra social enterprise providing employment opportunities to people with disabilities and provide them support.
CEO Roy Rogers said creating the film exposed the crew to creativity and discipline as well as giving them insight to an industry many would be quite foreign to.
“Our employees don’t get the opportunity [very often] down here in Wollongong to be part of a film that’s going to get shown around the world,” he said.
“It’s about that whole inclusion thing, it’s about making sure to include person with a dsibiality or … a disadvantaged background.”
Clay-Smith will be at the Wollongong premier of Kill Off on Friday June 2 at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.
Audience members will be treated to an upbeat Krump dance masterclass by Mark Manhatten post-screening.
Kill Off screens at IPAC 6:30pm Friday. Entry is by gold coin donation.