Journalists Iain Finlay and Trish Clark will launch a documentary about a weaving and embroidery school they set up in Laos, at a screening at Mt Vic Flicks on March 4.
In 2010 they spent six months working in northern Laos, where they found themselves involved in trying to help the people of Nalin, a remote and impoverished village.
Since then, they have raised funds in Australia and have built a road to Nalin village, a series of culvert drains, a primary school, a 60-bed school dormitory, and in 2018 opened the Women’s Business School of Textile Arts to teach young farming women embroidery and weaving.
Their Women’s Business documentary will be screened at 6.30pm on March 4, followed by a Q & A with the journalists.
The couple have a long history with the Blue Mountains. In a joint venture with Tom and Judy Keneally, they built Echoes Guest House at Echo Point in 1991, which won a Best Building of the Year award from the Master Builders Association. Now owned by the Escarpment Group, it's now known as Echoes Boutique Hotel and Restaurant.
They also had a long friendship with Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall who reached the summit of Mt Everest on his second attempt in 2006.
The journalists helped raise funds over many years for the expeditions, starting with the first climb in 1984, when Hall and his team forged a new route.
The couple are co-founders of the internationally successful science program for television, Beyond 2000, which was aired by the Discovery Channel for more than a decade. In a lifetime packed with creative adventure, they have lived and worked on every continent, including Antarctica.
Tickets to the Women's Business screening are $20 and include a complimentary glass of champagne. Scarves and throws will also be on sale. All money raised goes to the Women's Business School of Textile Arts.
