Indigenous Cultures of Austalia
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| Filming Aborigines In Australia |
Fact: Aborigines of Australia are descendents of the first people to leave Africa up to 75,000 years ago, and a genetic study has confirmed they are the oldest continuous culture in the world. One reason they have survived for so long is through their ability to adapt to change.
Indigenous film is a highly significant part of Australia's indigenous culture. There are different types of film that the Indigenous people of Australia are known for. Some portray issues or tell stories of the Aborigines and some are actually produced or directed by the Aborigines themselves. The portrayal of Indigenous issues and people in film provide a unique insight into Australia's relationship with its Indigenous peoples and their heritage. Indigenous film can also be a means of expression for Indigenous experience and culture. However, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are indigenous to Australia have often been stereotyped in Australian society. Australia's film history paints a similar picture.
1900s – Early Cinema
Australian cinema has a long history and the Torres Strait Islanders were among the first subjects to be filmed in Australia. The oldest surviving clip was made three years after the invention of the cine-camera, creating a homemade video of the Torres Strait Islander men performing three dance sequences.
The young Aboriginal men in the film wear sarongs and have designs painted on their bodies which represent the cultural identity of each individual dancer and may be used to identify them with their country and clan group.
1920s – Silent Era
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been portrayed in film since the silent era of the 1920s. Films from this time about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies were made from a European viewpoint. They were also condescending in their view of Indigenous Australians. Fictional film, dramas and feature films, often portrayed Aborigines as threatening, but also represented them as mysterious or playful. However Indigenous people in both types of films were portrayed as primitive and inferior to the white settlers.http://aso.gov.au/
Example: Thursday Island and Merauke, Dutch New Guinea (1925). The villagers who appear in this clip are portrayed as 'types of natives’ and are displayed for the camera as ethnographic subjects. They are filmed from the shoulders up, showing their features either front on or in profile.
1930s – Sound Era
The conflict between white settlers and Indigenous people has frequently been a theme in Australian films. For example: Charles Chauvel, a nationalist for Australian culture, and director of the film: Heritage, (1935). His film portrayed Aborigines as 'black devils' that attacked a homestead. In the clip, they are shown killing a man and a mother with spears, and being scared off by white men on horseback.
Chauvel's films, along with others of the time period, represented Aborigines as uncivilized and violent force of nature, rather than human.
1950s – Color Era
Charles Chauvel’s Jedda (1955) was the first Australian feature film to be shot in color, the first to star Aboriginal actors in lead roles, and the first to be entered at the Cannes Film Festival in Austalia. The audience is led to identify with Jedda and her perspective, rather than the racist views of the white characters. However, the tragic ending suggests that Aboriginal people and society are unable to be 'civilized'.
http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3702/year/1955.html
http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3702/year/1955.html
1980s
Lousy Little Sixpence (1982), is a documentary in which Indigenous Australians recount their experience of being forcibly sent away from their families and communities to work for the Australian Government without pay. The clip begins with historical footage of King Burraga who speaks about equal rights and justice for Aboriginal people. William Cooper, an Aboriginal elder, begins the fight for rights by having a petition signed, with the intention of delivering it to the King.2000
A number of Indigenous films were broadcasted by SBS, Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service, as part of something called “Unfinished Business: Reconciling the Nation” in the year 2000. The reconciliation movement is said to have begun with the 1967 referendum in which most Australians voted to remove clauses in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Indigenous Australians.
One of the documentaries broadcasted, Whiteys Like Us (1999), provides an interesting insight into a group of white Australians participating in a Reconciliation Learning Circle. The documentary illustrates members of the learning circle who are resentful of common myths of the Aborigines. The group discusses stereotypes and expose their own prejudices. One participant wants to define what an Aboriginal person is, then expresses a strong resentment towards the 'benefits’ offered to 'welfare groups’.
Present
“Screen Australia”, a local Australian agency is currently working with Indigenous Australians to provide funding opportunities and allowing them to participate in the film, television and interactive media production.
