Healing 2014

Viktor Kahdem Don Hany is an Iranian-Australian inmate who is being transferred to the Won Wron Correctional Centre, a low-security prison farm in rural Victoria, to serve the final stretch of his sentence. Once there, he quickly attracts the attention of Matt Perry, Hugo Weaving, a correctional officer at the prison.

One day not long after his arrival, Kahdem and Perry are on a work detail together when they discover an injured wedge-tail eagle trapped in a wire fence. Perry notices Kahdem’s almost immediate affection and care for the bird. Soon, Perry has set up a small aviary inside which the inmate can rehabilitate the bird, noting that as he aids the recovery of the bird he can also heal himself. Kahdem is the first prisoner to undergo this new program.

While training the Yasmine, the eagle Perry has named, inmate and officer develop a strong fraternal relationship and Kahdem opens up about his past to his new friend. After hearing about his past and finding out that he has living family despite never having had a visit, Perry becomes motivated to assist Kahdem in his rehabilitation and intervenes to invite his son Yousef, Dimitri Baveas, to attend the prison for a visit. Convinced against his initial refusal of the offer, Yousef eventually takes up the invitation to visit his incarcerated father. The visit turns sour after sensitive issues are touched upon; Kahdem grows angry and clenches his fists, while Yousef shouts at him and leaves in rage, hurting Kahdem’s morale.

Perry then brings in a wildlife expert, Glynis, Jane Menelaus, to assist in Yasmine’s training, and she warns Viktor that the bird is intended for release back into the wild; the bird, she reminds him, is only in the aviary for wildlife rehabilitation. Meanwhile, other inmates such as Paul, Xavier Samuel, begin rehabilitating other injured birds as part of Perry’s program. Paul develops a deep devotion to a majestic white owl he tends, showing the same care that Kahdem brings to Yasmine.

The friendship between Kahdem and Perry, along with Kahdem’s work with Yasmine, helps him find inner happiness and a sense of purpose he hadn’t felt before. When Yasmine is fully rehabilitated, she is released into the wild but is soon found injured again and kept at Healesville Sanctuary for ongoing care. In the end, Kahdem is released from prison, reconciled with his son and family, and the trio visits Healesville where Kahdem is reunited with Yasmine.