In The Driver’s Seat

Synopsis

In the Driver’s Seat documents a group of Oromo refugee women from Ethiopia, who live in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs, as they undertake a driving program in order to get their licences. The women are filmed as they learn the rules of the road and jump behind the wheel to partake in driving lessons. In the Driver’s Seat follows the journey of these women, through the trials and tribulation - as they take to the road.

The women are part of an indigenous group from the Oromo Nation, Ethiopia’s largest indigenous group. In Africa, the Oromo people have suffered under violent persecution from the Ethiopian Government for many years. Thus, many of the women came to Australia with stories of great hardship. In the Driver’s Seat also interweaves their personal stories as refugees living in Melbourne and the issues they face in a new and different country.

The task of driving becomes a metaphor for these refugees’ lives - learning new rules, navigating a new terrain, travelling new roads, failing and succeeding, taking complete control, gaining freedom and independence. We follow these women as they take the steps to steer their lives in a new direction.