ALI AL JENABI, an asylum seeker from Iraq, fled his country over twenty years ago at the height of the Iraq war. His indomitable spirit, vitality and charisma contribute to a most extraordinary first screen performance. He was brought to the attention of the director at Sydney Writers Festival when he spoke at the book launch of a biography that tells his life story, THE PEOPLE SMUGGLER by Robyn de Crespigny, published by Penguin.