LIMBO Project

How it began 🎬

Story Is Connection (SIC) is a not-for profit organisation that mobilises international students and their lived experiences through theatre and storytelling. Before it became an organisation, SIC began as a project – The LIMBO Project Project, which later on developed the Be You Be Scene Project. I started getting involved as a volunteer of The LIMBO Project Project and this is how my journey in SIC began. My role was mainly as the lead graphic designer and as one of the committee, helping in the implementation of various projects.

In 2020, as the COVID-19 was declared as a global pandemic, international and state borders were closing and cities were going into lockdown. International students were among the most vulnerable groups, some could not come back to Australia while others could not leave Australia. Many lost jobs in retails, restaurants, etc. and were not eligible to access the various financial support that the Australian government was giving to locals. It was not only the economic impact that was significant but also the mental and emotional ones. International students come to Australia not only to study but to live and experience the Australia. Being far away from home, many were facing (and still are) homesickness, isolation, depression. And, the comments said by the Australian Prime Minister made the community feel more abandoned and lost.

As an organisation who believes in uplifting voices, Story Is Connection wanted to help international students to connect with each other and to provide them a platform where they will be heard, where they can share their experiences of living through a pandemic. Before the pandemic, all of our workshops, interviews/individual consultations and performances were conducted in a face-to-face settings. But with lockdown restrictions, we could not operate as we used to. Our team came together to create an online versions of our creative process, utilising video conferencing tool such as Zoom. With the support of the City of Melbourne, the LIMBO project was created. Being in LIMBO was what international students felt like. “Don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going”

Designing the LIMBO Project ⏳

The LIMBO short film production 📽️

For this project, we did not have our usual workshops, interviews, rehearsals and performance format due to the time constraint, resources limitation and the whole project being done online for the first time. The project was divided into 4 key stages:

• Recruitment 📢
• Registration opened for international students interested to participate in the film
• Selection of international students
• Individual Consultations and filming 💬
• For each participant 2-3 online consultations with the artistic director, Catherine Simmonds
• Consultations involved facilitated conversations to help the participant explore and express their stories
• Scenes directed by Catherine and recorded by the media director Irene Metter via Zoom
• Community complaints on degraded roads and lack of pedestrian infrastructure and greenery
• Creative Productions 🎨
• Transcribing individual consultations recordings
• Storyboarding and script of the short film
• Film editing
• During the creative productions, the team also organises online casual nights for participants to interact and bond with each other. This include online games, casual chats.
• Roll-outs 🎞️
• Marketing of short film launch and additional screening events
• The film screening includes Q&A with audience, participants and SIC team and interactive small workshop facilitated by Catherine Simmonds
• The film screenings are designed to raise awareness of audience about international students’ issues and stories and a platform to connect with each other

Posters and illustrations for the LIMBO Project 🖼️

As the lead graphic designer, I created the promotional materials and graphics for the film. The colour themes purple and pink was the chosen colours for the project. This was decided by the directors of Story Is Connection. Below are some of the works developed throughout the project.

Personal learnings 🌱

While this is not the first time I have been involved in a SIC Project, it is always a learning experience. The pandemic has pushed our team to adapt and the LIMBO Project has shown us how we can continue our work to connect international students and the wider public. Creating a short film and organising online screening events were definitely challenging since it was a first for us as a team. This project has shown us that the online space can be further explored.

In terms of design, it is always an honour for me to be given the opportunity use my creativity to share such amazing projects and hopefully getting the message reached as many people as we can.

Furthermore, working on this project was also a nice way to take a break from my studies and not focus too much for some time. Online learning can definitely take a toll on someone, especially if they are not used to do so. Participating in the project was also a good way to share my thoughts of the events happening around me, as an international student living in Australia.