tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/australian-film-8886/articlesAustralian film – The Conversation2023-12-01T00:25:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2187152023-12-01T00:25:18Z2023-12-01T00:25:18ZA Kid Called Troy at 30: this beautiful Aussie film was one of the most important HIV/AIDS documentaries ever produced<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562837/original/file-20231130-19-ywh7v3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C1%2C955%2C665&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NFSA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since 1988, <a href="https://www.worldaidsday.org.au/about/about-world-aids-day">World AIDS Day</a> has been held each year on December 1. This World AIDS Day, we’re reflecting on one of the most important HIV/AIDS documentaries ever produced: <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/a-kid-called-troy-1993/6902/">A Kid Called Troy</a>, released in Australia 30 years ago.</p>
<p>The film tells the story of Troy Lovegrove, a seven-year-old Australian boy who became HIV-infected during birth, and the support and advocacy of his father, Vince Lovegrove. The story of Troy’s mother, Suzi Lovegrove, and her experience with HIV/AIDS had been documented in 1987’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQZ_9xFp3Fc">Suzi’s Story</a>, released the same year Suzi died.</p>
<p>The two films mark a significant moment in the cinematic history of health communication. Their agenda – unquestionably progressive for the time – was to document the family’s struggle against systemic injustice and social discrimination, and to centre attention on their story, told in their own words, with authority and agency. </p>
<p>The documentaries promote support and understanding in the place of rampant victimisation, erasure and neglect, just as the Lovegroves had achieved within their own community.</p>
<h2>‘Triumphant testimony’</h2>
<p>The made-for-television documentary tells Troy’s story through direct-to-camera interviews with Troy, Vince and others in their circle. </p>
<p>The crew, under director Terry Carlyon, were careful to build close bonds with the family prior to introducing any filming equipment. This ease and honesty is evident in the way Troy and Vince open up to the camera and thus directly to the viewer, sharing private thoughts on their experiences. </p>
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<p>While the film is focused on Troy as a child with HIV, the emphasis is placed – perhaps for the first time – on living with HIV, rather than dying from it. We see Troy’s ordinary life at home with his father and sister, attending school, gymnastics and doctor’s appointments.</p>
<p>The Age praised the film’s “deeply moving and inspiring” content, “gigantic courage” and “blushingly intimate portrait of private joy and torment”. The ratings report for the week called for the ABC to “repeat this triumphant testimony to the human spirit – and soon”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-hiv-in-children-is-way-off-target-where-to-focus-action-now-162351">Ending HIV in children is way off target: where to focus action now</a>
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<h2>‘A minority within a minority’</h2>
<p>The films are a testament to the human spirit. But they are also important works of activism, advocacy and education. </p>
<p>In A Kid Called Troy, a local woman from a rural community in Arnhem Land, which Troy and Vince regularly visited as part of their outreach work, observes “AIDS doesn’t discriminate”. </p>
<p>Suzi became infected with HIV after a “casual affair” with a man in New York. Not yet aware of this, she passed the virus on to Troy at birth.</p>
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<p>These films widened the common cultural understanding of who might be affected by HIV/AIDS. They made clear that, without preventive education and awareness-raising of how the virus works, suffering and stigma will continue. </p>
<p>By focusing on the experiences of an ordinary mother and her child, the films gave viewers an experience they could recognise, rather than insisting on the fundamental “difference” of people living with HIV.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1354595">Vince said</a>:</p>
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<p>Suzi wanted to get into people’s minds and souls and make them aware of what AIDS-fear was doing to our community. She wanted to let people know what life had been like as a minority within a minority.</p>
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<h2>AIDS prevention and education</h2>
<p>The year Suzi’s Story was released so was the infamous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ9f378T49E">Grim Reaper campaign</a>. </p>
<p>Although the advertisement was part of a <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/rampant--how-a-city-stopped-a-plague-2007/25525/">wider policy</a> more transparent and innovative than those that had come before, the campaign relied on fearmongering as a primary strategy. </p>
<p>The commercial, part of a A$3 million national educational campaign, did not specify how HIV/AIDS could be contracted or transmitted, or the prevention and support strategies available. This fuelled a <a href="https://www.bandt.com.au/inquiry-told-famous-grim-reaper-aids-ad-contributed-to-significant-violence-against-gay-people/">moral panic</a> that targeted gay men, in particular those living with HIV and those who injected drugs. </p>
<p>The stigma associated with HIV made the programming of prevention education difficult. In 1987, Ted Coleman’s story in <a href="https://nakedeyeproductions.com/films/living-with-aids/">Living with Aids</a> aired on WBZ-TV in Boston without commercials because the television station was unable to find a sponsor.</p>
<h2>‘A beautiful brief flash’</h2>
<p>A Kid Called Troy stands apart from other HIV/AIDS films of the time because it was concerned with quality of life rather than the spectre of death. It brought Troy’s life into mainstream attention through the accessibility and domesticity of a family-centred television documentary. </p>
<p>It was a landmark moment in the popular depiction of HIV/AIDS.</p>
<p>Troy’s life, in his sister Holly’s words, was “a beautiful brief flash”. He died at the age of seven, just three months before the film was aired.</p>
<p>In his film, Troy’s relentless optimism and zest for life, combined with his father’s unswerving determination, leaves us with the promise of hope, and even the audacity to laugh. In one scene, Troy asks his father, “My video’s going to win more awards than mummy’s, isn’t it dad?”</p>
<p>He seemed to understand his legacy was the very act of understanding itself – comprehension rather than apprehension, compassion above all else.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-hiv-as-a-public-health-threat-3-essential-reads-195477">Ending HIV as a public health threat – 3 essential reads</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gildersleeve received funding from the Queensland World AIDS Day Alliance under the Queensland World AIDS Day Regional Grants, in collaboration with Queensland Positive People and the Inclusive Counselling Collective.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Mullens consults for Queensland Positive People and Mind Evolution Centre.
Amy Mullens has received external funding to conduct HIV-related research from Australian Government Department of Health: Activities to Support the National Response to Blood Borne Viruses (BBV) and Sexually Transmissible Infections (STI); Gilead Sciences, Inc; HIV Foundation Queensland; and the Sexual Health Research Fund (an initiative of the Sexual Health Ministerial Advisory Committee, funded by Queensland Health; administered by ASHM).
Amy Mullens is a member of the Australian Psychological Society-APS (including the College of Health Psychologists-CHP and College of Clinical Psychologists); and has served in a voluntary capacity on the APS CHP National Executive Committee.
Amy Mullens is a member of the Sexual Health Society Queensland, ASHM and GANQ.
Amy Mullens serves as a grant assessor on large health and medical research funding panels.
Amy Mullens serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals in Sexual Health/HIV; and serves as a peer reviewer for abstract submissions for National and International Sexual Health/HIV conferences.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tait Sanders has friendships with members of the Lovegrove family.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annette Brömdal and Kate Cantrell do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The film tells the story of Troy Lovegrove, a seven-year-old Australian boy who became HIV-infected during birth.Jessica Gildersleeve, Professor of English Literature, University of Southern QueenslandAmy Mullens, Professor and Clinical & Health Psychologist, University of Southern QueenslandAnnette Brömdal, Senior Lecturer in Sport, Health and Physical Education, University of Southern QueenslandKate Cantrell, Senior Lecturer — Writing, Editing, Publishing, University of Southern QueenslandTait Sanders, Researcher, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184352023-11-29T19:17:37Z2023-11-29T19:17:37ZChristmess is undoubtedly one of the best Christmas films to emerge – from anywhere – in recent years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562286/original/file-20231128-23-rszejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C6679%2C3933&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bonsai Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Bona fide</em> Christmas films usually fit into one of the following categories. </p>
<p>There are the sardonic comedies poking fun at the consumerist undertones of the holiday (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Gremlins). There are the cheesy, schmaltzy Christmas fantasy films (The Christmas Star, Prancer) that strain to impart some of that good ol’ Christmas miracle to the viewer. There are the camp, deliberately kitsch bodgy romps like the Hulk Hogan vehicle Santa with Muscles. And there are the social realist dramas about people just trying to make it through the stress of the period (Almost Christmas). </p>
<p>This is not to mention the numerous Christmas horror films – anti-Christmas films? – that skewer the joy of the holidays with things like axe-wielding Santas (Silent Night, Deadly Night), deranged, obscene phone-calling maniacs (Black Christmas) and evil Krampuses looking to punish the naughty of every stripe (Rare Exports). </p>
<p>Christmess, the latest film from writer-director Heath Davis, fits firmly in the social realist mode. </p>
<p>Alcoholic ex-film star Chris (Steve Le Marquand) leaves rehab and moves into a halfway house with just over a week until Christmas. Living with his sponsor, Nick (Darren Gilshenan), a self-professed Yulephile, and musician and recovering addict Joy (Hannah Joy), he works hard to get his life on track and secures a job as a Santa at a suburban mall. But various obstacles – like bumping into his daughter Noelle, estranged for 20 years – impede his efforts. </p>
<p>As he attempts to develop a relationship with his daughter, he discovers, alas, that despite the optimism of people like his sponsor Nick, simply apologising isn’t always (or even often) enough, even if, as Nick is fond of saying, “Christmas is the time for forgivin’.” </p>
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<p>There’s no glorious overcoming or transcendence at the end of the film, and anything that could be interpreted as a “Christmas miracle” is minor to say the least. But there is a definite sense of the development of genuine friendship between the characters, and a sense that the grey world Chris inhabits is at least a few shades warmer by the end of the film (even if, as is so often the case with addicts, macro-level patterns repeat). </p>
<p>Rather than dampening the film, the minor stakes make it a more touching experience – and it is an emotionally engrossing film, satisfying in its combination of melancholy tinged with the vague outlines of hope.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christmas-films-there-might-be-some-truth-to-stories-about-hometown-romances-according-to-research-196607">Christmas films: there might be some truth to stories about hometown romances, according to research</a>
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<h2>Carefully observed details</h2>
<p>For a low-budget independent film to be successful – and this is a true independent film, which in Australia means no investment from any of the major screen bodies – it needs to be as close to flawless as possible across three fronts. </p>
<p>It needs to look good by embracing a suitable (and usually low-key) aesthetic, it needs to feature excellent actors, and the writing needs to be razor sharp. Christmess succeeds in each area. </p>
<p>The performances, particularly by seasoned veterans Le Marquand and Gilshenan, are exceptional. </p>
<p>Le Marquand has long been one of Australia’s most underrated stars of stage and screen – watch him in Two Hands or Last Train to Freo and it’s hard to understand why he hasn’t developed a longer Hollywood resume – and he effortlessly commands the attention of the viewer here. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Le Marquand dressed as Santa." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562287/original/file-20231128-27-rqwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Le Marquand effortlessly commands the attention of the viewer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bonsai Films</span></span>
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<p>Gilshenan, best known for television comedies like The Moodys and Full Frontal, is superb as the kind (if a touch sanctimonious) AA sponsor. Hannah Joy, lead singer and guitarist of Middle Kids, breaks up the drama with some beautifully performed songs. </p>
<p>The dialogue is naturalistic, fitting the minor tenor of the film, with some subtle bursts of wry humour punctuating the drama. </p>
<p>“Most Santas aren’t NIDA graduates,” Chris says to his employer. “You’d be surprised,” she barks in reply. </p>
<p>“I lied,” Chris says to Nick at one point, “I’m an actor and an addict, what’d you expect?” </p>
<p>The cinematography by Chris Bland is excellent – it looks like it’s been shot for cinemas and not streaming, making the most of the wide aspect ratio and long lenses, with the handheld style recalling the imagery of more savage suburban movies like Snowtown. </p>
<p>The film is full of carefully observed details that situate it within a Sydney milieu, capturing the sad banality of so much of suburban life. Unkempt, rubbish-strewn canals, ugly and depressingly empty shopping malls, carefully manicured weatherboard houses – all the stuff they tried to make us forget about during the Sydney Olympics. </p>
<p>At the same time, there are details anyone who’s spent a Christmas in Sydney would immediately recognise: the glorious but slightly unhinged light displays that seem out of place without snow peppering them; a dying Christmas tree, rescued from a fruit shop; much complaining about the heat, as an ancient air conditioner fruitlessly struggles to do its work. There are the ubiquitous Christmas warehouse stores, a barbecue, yellow brick houses, small, carefully mowed lawns, and lots of sweat. </p>
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<span class="caption">Christmess is full of carefully observed details.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bonsai Films</span></span>
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<p>The film’s only weakness – and it’s minor – is the score, which seems a little uninspired but, thankfully, is used minimally.</p>
<p>Christmess is an exceptionally well-crafted independent film punching well above its weight in terms of budget. It lingers in the imagination far longer than most Hollywood-scale productions. </p>
<p>There’s a subtlety to it unusual for contemporary cinema, which tends to browbeat viewers in an insufferably didactic register. It wouldn’t surprise me if this were at the top of lists of Australian Christmas movies. It’s undoubtedly one of the best Christmas films to emerge – from anywhere – in recent years. </p>
<p><em>Christmess is in cinemas from today.</em></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christmas-ransom-i-quite-enjoyed-watching-this-terrible-new-aussie-christmas-film-194515">Christmas Ransom: I quite enjoyed watching this (terrible) new Aussie Christmas film</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ari Mattes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New independent Aussie film Christmess is emotionally engrossing and satisfying in its combination of melancholy tinged with the vague outlines of hope.Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2154552023-10-24T19:17:33Z2023-10-24T19:17:33ZScarygirl: the richly built world of this new Aussie film tells a story of human-nature connection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553638/original/file-20231013-15-vm411r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2048%2C858&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Arkie was created by illustrator Nathan Jurevicius 21 years ago. She has evolved into <a href="https://g.co/kgs/2KyCTC">graphic novels</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarygirl">console</a> and <a href="https://darkslope.com/productions/scary-girl/">virtual reality</a> games, collectable vinyl toys – and now an animated feature film.</p>
<p>Arkie (Jillian Nguyen) lives on a vibrant peninsula with her dad Blister (Rob Collins).</p>
<p>Blister has the ability to regenerate life, and uses this gift to tend to the organic life of the peninsula. When he is captured by Chihoohoo (Tim Minchin) and taken to the dazzling city of lights ruled by the notorious Dr Maybee (Sam Neill), Arkie is forced to leave the safety of the peninsula to save her father.</p>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54281171">David Attenborough said</a> “saving our planet is now a communications challenge”. </p>
<p>Watching Scarygirl, I was struck by the way rich visual metaphors and ecological backdrop in animated films can be part of this communication solution.</p>
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<h2>An expanding and visual scary-verse</h2>
<p>With growing streaming demand for original content, Australia has been going through an <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2023/03-22-screen-industry-skills-programs">animation and VFX industry boom</a>. Scarygirl marks a 3D animated feature film release that incorporates Australian accents, colloquialisms and sensibilities for a global audience.</p>
<p>Animation and visual ways of expressing ideas about the world have <a href="https://g.co/kgs/aS6AXD">long been used to share messages</a> with a new generation.</p>
<p>Filled with fantastical world-building, character and creature design, the Scarygirl universe mimics our concern for the natural world and the need for human-nature connection.</p>
<p>With some darker themes in the story around biodiversity loss, the film introduces a healthy level of cynicism concerning capitalism, technological innovation and progress. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Arkie, a rabbit and an egg." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553814/original/file-20231015-27-zs3x63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">We follow Arkie’s journey as she discovers the world is not exactly as it seems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span>
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<p>A feast for the eyes, Scarygirl emulates a toy aesthetic and feels like stop-motion. A visually communicated story has an immense power and influence over the way society is formed. </p>
<p>In my <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1387903">research</a> on how illustration practice works within society, Jurevicius told me illustration is</p>
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<p>like reinventing folk tales and fairy tales of cultures that aren’t necessarily real, or they are real, but they are a reimagining of tales that perpetuate the idea of storytelling.</p>
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<p>Personal experience is fundamental device in the way Jurevicius’ illustration, and now animation, shares metaphors and mythologies of the natural world and family life through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism">anthropomorphism</a> of the human condition.</p>
<p>In Scarygirl we follow Arkie’s journey as she discovers the world is not exactly as it seems. Jurevicius created Scarygirl out of “a deep love for a new daughter”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>one of the biggest themes for me in this ever-expanding folktale is what it means to be part of a family in all its shapes and forms.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jurevicius draws on Baltic heritage and traditions of storytelling in his work: we must keep telling stories of our own lives to shape history. Through animation, he articulates his particular experience of the world, capturing a version of reality.</p>
<p>As Arkie starts to explore beyond her peninsula, she comes to realise family can be built from the friends and allies you meet on your journey.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-ads-to-oscar-winners-a-century-of-australian-animation-43697">From ads to Oscar winners: a century of Australian animation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Storytelling is a powerful tool</h2>
<p>At the heart of Scarygirl is the complex relationship between a father and daughter: how we resonate with and find a way through to connect with our parents’ views of us, find responsibility within ourselves, and develop confidence in our own identity and choices.</p>
<p>The film has an authenticity and earnestness built into the plight of Arkie as she seeks to make the best choices with the information provided.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A scary character." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553815/original/file-20231015-21-b28ohq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Animation has the ability to circumvent time, space and gravity and physical decay.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Animation has the ability to circumvent time, space and gravity and physical decay or bodily change. Characters in animation become the masked version of ourselves. In Scarygirl, we explore the human experience through the eyes of an octopus, rabbit and hybrid Chihuahua. </p>
<p>Scarygirl is built within a deep visual universe which relies on physics, a toy-like texture and a strong use of light and colour to communicate the mood.</p>
<p>Animators have to make the fantastical world feel as real as possible so Arkie moves like a human. As we move through the acts of the story, colour indicates place and the stages of the story, like the darkness when she meets the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey">threshold guardian</a> Tweedweller (Deborah Mailman) and the tree of knowledge.</p>
<p>The magic of animation means creators can play with time and space and the narrative structure. There is a wonderful sequence in the middle of the film that utilises a 2D style to shift back in time when Arkie was too young to remember. </p>
<p>Illustration, animation and visual storytelling sit across all parts of our lives. Stories like this one can help us realise our connection to place, culture, the environment around us and the stewardship and responsibility we have to the natural world. </p>
<p><em>Scarygirl is in Australian cinemas from Thursday.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/21st-century-character-designs-reflect-our-concerns-as-always-40382">21st-century character designs reflect our concerns, as always</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ari Chand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Arkie was created by illustrator Nathan Jurevicius 21 years ago. She has evolved into graphic novels, games, toys – and now an animated feature.Ari Chand, Lecturer in Illustration and Animation, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1968082023-01-12T01:22:05Z2023-01-12T01:22:05ZFrom Cate Blanchett to Baz Luhrmann: Aussiewood at the 80th Golden Globe Awards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504133/original/file-20230111-46330-7qsz36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1198%2C675&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Focus Features</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Aussiewood sprinkled its star dust at this year’s 80th Golden Globes with five nominations and a fourth acting win for Cate Blanchett, this time her performance as a renowned German conductor in Todd Field’s Tár. </p>
<p>The Golden Globes was back in full capacity at the Beverley Hilton in Los Angeles and broadcast on NBC. This time the ceremony was on a Tuesday, not a Sunday night and was also streamed live on Stan.</p>
<p>In the previous years the ceremony had been scaled down due the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/26/golden-globes-ethics-controversy-criticism-lack-diversity">controversies</a> associated with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1612968272370225152"}"></div></p>
<h2>Nominations and awards</h2>
<p>Besides Blanchett, another Aussiewood member nominated included Baz Luhrmann for directing the feature about the rockabilly icon, Elvis. Also nominated was Margot Robbie in the acting musical or comedy category for her role as Nellie LaRoy, an aspiring actress in the film Babylon, about ambitious creatives in Hollywood during the roaring 1920s.</p>
<p>Hugh Jackman received an nomination as the father of a teenage boy with mental health issues in The Son, and Elizabeth Debicki in her supporting role of Princess Diana in season five of the Netflix series, The Crown. </p>
<p>US actor Austin Butler won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for his role as Elvis Presley. But Luhrmann lost out to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans for Best Director — Motion Picture. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wBDLRvjHVOY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Andrew Dominik’s Netflix drama, Blonde, saw Cuban actress Ana de Armas (who played Marilyn Monroe) nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama. However, that award went to Blanchett, who did not attend the ceremony because she was in <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/cate-blanchett-reacts-to-golden-globe-win-at-uk-premiere-of-tar/video/0e5122a9e4f86798ceb76e003f03ca27">London</a> for the premiere of Tár.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nni94-z1JoU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Aussiewood and awards</h2>
<p>Since the 1900s, Australians in the cultural field have often spent time in or moved to Hollywood to forge successful careers. </p>
<p>Despite the 1970s and 1980s boom in Australia’s national film industry, the minimal Australian nominations for the Golden Globes were tied to the Foreign Language category. One example is Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career, which was nominated for <a href="https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/my-brilliant-career">Best Picture in 1981</a>. </p>
<p>The term <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/27/aussiewood.tsr/index.html">Aussiewood</a> came into vogue during the 2000s to describe the international franchises and successful invasion of Australian artists in Hollywood.</p>
<p>In their 2004 <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3110354">book</a> on the topic, critics Michaela Boland and Michael Bodey said Aussiewood reached a critical mass in 2002 when Australian directors and the acting fraternity were nominated in 24 television and film categories at the Golden Globes. </p>
<p>Nicole Kidman, who won a Golden Globe in 2002 for her role as Satine in Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, has a total of six Golden Globe awards to her name – the most for any Australian to date.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504132/original/file-20230111-47022-7t7sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicole Kidman at the 2002 Golden Globes awards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Golden Globes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is the magic of Aussiewood?</h2>
<p>Tom Hanks, who is nominated this year for playing Colonel Tom Parker in Luhrmann’s Elvis, joked back then that Australia’s success in Hollywood “has something to do with magical qualities <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/hooray-for-aussiewood-20020319-gdu26b.html">in Vegemite</a>”. </p>
<p>However, as Beverly Hills-based publicist Catherine Olim <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/hooray-for-aussiewood-20020319-gdu26b.html">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It doesn’t have anything to do with where they are from […] What Hollywood sees is their talent. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unlike the peer-driven, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars), the Golden Globes is voted on by 105 Los Angeles-based foreign journalists (six of which are <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2021/10/new-hollywood-foreign-press-association-105-1234668670/">now Black</a>) who are members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. </p>
<p>Since its inception in 1943, the aim of the the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was to distribute cinema news to the non-US markets. The annual Golden Globes ceremony is often seen as the dress rehearsal to the Oscars in March.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-banshees-of-inisherin-competing-concepts-of-justice-wage-war-in-martin-mcdonaghs-irish-tragicomedy-197556">The Banshees of Inisherin: competing concepts of justice wage war in Martin McDonagh’s Irish tragicomedy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In recent years the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-21/hfpa-golden-globes-2021">criticised</a> for moving beyond the realms of objective journalism by boosting media campaigns of Oscar hopefuls. </p>
<p>Prior to this year’s Golden Globes and following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022, Blanchett received a lot of international positive media praise for her role in Tár.</p>
<p>Blanchett’s Golden Globe win for Tár hints at possible Oscar glory, which could put her in the elite Aussiewood category of three Academy Awards.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Jean Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Aussiewood sprinkled its star dust at this year’s 80th Golden Globes with five nominations and an acting win for Cate Blanchett.Andrea Jean Baker, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909032022-10-06T19:04:45Z2022-10-06T19:04:45ZAustralian thriller The Stranger puts anxiety centre frame<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488392/original/file-20221006-13-2yzg3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2783%2C1862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When I teach budding screenwriters, I will often use the “show don’t tell” rule as a quick-fix for students trapped in the more familiar mode of literary storytelling. The Stranger, an accomplished Australian thriller, written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, abides closely to this adage with visceral storytelling using images and sounds, the material of cinema. </p>
<p>While the film is adapted from Kate Kyriacou’s The Sting, based on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/05/daniel-morcombe-inquest-finds-police-failed-to-prioritise-investigation-into-child-sex-offender">Daniel Morcombe murder</a>, it fictionalises the specifics and leaves the heinous crime off-screen. </p>
<p>In The Stranger, Mark (Joel Edgerton), is at the centre of an elaborate undercover operation tasked with extracting a confession from key suspect Henry (Sean Harris). </p>
<p>Where true-crime books, and podcasts, have the capacity to re-tell timelines, circumstances, and characters in detail – filmmakers need to find imaginative ways to render these stories for the screen. Wright utilises a notion of interiority to do this, which works both literally and psychologically in the film. </p>
<p>Literally, in the sense that it unfolds mostly in underexposed interior spaces, and psychologically with its emphasis on the character’s anxiety manifested through professional work duties. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488394/original/file-20221006-1830-ndg2k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joel Edgerton in The Stranger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Netflix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Interiors</h2>
<p>The Stranger is bathed in darkness. In lieu of narrative detail, or exposition, Wright uses cinematic mood to do the work. </p>
<p>This kind of storytelling existed prior to cinema. Watching the film, I was reminded of the paintings of Caravaggio which portray violent scenes using chiaroscuro and an absence of light. This comparison is evident in the setup for the film, when Henry is recruited to work for the faux criminal mob. While this takes place on a remote bus, realism is put to one side with the scene staged in a dark, abstract abyss devoid of background detail. </p>
<p>What follows is a range of dread-inducing scenes that unfold in drab domestic and industrial interiors. In these spaces, curtains and blinds are inevitably drawn denoting the secrecy of the operation and the thematic darkness of the scenario. </p>
<p>Cinematography from Sam Chiplin is bold. And in repeated driving scenes, featuring Mark and Henry, the car itself functions as a chamber for the anticipated confession. Whilst the remote exterior landscape may be visible through the window, it is at a remove, with the two mirrored characters (one good, one evil) remaining trapped within a dark interior cabin. </p>
<p>I saw the film in a theatre, it will be interesting to see if audiences think the film is too dark streaming on Netflix, a controversy of late in relation to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvmy4q/game-of-thrones-fans-still-think-its-too-dark-to-see-anything">Game of Thrones</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488399/original/file-20221006-15-2wv8uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Stranger is bathed in darkness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Netflix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anxiety</h2>
<p>On one hand, anxiety is a pre-condition for an undercover cop story. We’ve seen this in Donnie Brasco (1997) with Johnny Depp or, even better, in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) featuring a gripping performance from Leonardo Di Caprio. </p>
<p>But The Stranger goes one step further in situating anxiety centre frame. Joel Edgerton’s interest in the story, as a producer, was to reveal the sacrifice, and indeed the trauma, which some professions subsume for the greater good. </p>
<p>Mark’s trauma from his police work is ever-present: we see his nightmares, his over reliance on alcohol and his short temper when taking care of his young son. The film explores a mode of psychological interiority in which our deepest and darkest thoughts reside. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umIeYcQLABg">trailer</a> Mark (Edgerton) models a breathing exercise, drawn from psychological therapy, for his young son (Cormac Wright) saying “Do you want me to teach you something I learned at work?” The character’s panic attacks must ring true for Edgerton, who has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-11/how-actor-joel-edgerton-finds-meaning-from-fame/12398158">spoken publicly</a> about his own experience with anxiety to alleviate the stigma attached to mental health. </p>
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<h2>Style</h2>
<p>The Stranger exhibits a tendency in Australian cinema that has become a recipe for success: true-crime stories which show hypermasculinity played out against a periphery of (off-screen) violence. From The Boys (1998) to Nitram (2021) there is a strong lineage here. </p>
<p>Yet while the market always awards familiarity or brand recognition – will this recipe prove creatively restrictive to Australian filmmakers in the long run? To my mind, Thomas M. Wright’s debut Acute Misfortune (2018) offered something more unorthodox, more vital in Australian cinema. That film, on the late Australian painter Adam Cullen, unfolded within a boxy, claustrophobic frame and delivered a more exploratory, artisanal filmmaking process.</p>
<p>It would be a shame for Wright to be subsumed entirely within a successful, if at times predicable, Australian house style.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Munt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Undercover cop narratives are usually full of anxiety, but The Stranger goes a step further, focusing on the trauma and darkness of the job.Alex Munt, Associate Professor, Media Arts & Production, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1905332022-09-13T04:57:02Z2022-09-13T04:57:02Z‘He was deadly, a deadly man’: remembering the incredible life and work of Uncle Jack Charles<p><em>The family of Uncle Jack Charles have given permission for his name and images to be used.</em></p>
<p>Aboriginal Melbourne is mourning the loss of another iconic member of its community – Uncle Jack Charles. </p>
<p>Uncle Jack Charles was born on the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve in 1943 and was descended from the Victorian peoples of the Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Woiwurrung and the Yorta Yorta. He spent his life retracing his ancestral heritage after being forcibly removed from his family. </p>
<p>His search brought about happy and sad stories that he documented for us all across his <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/jack-charles-9781760899158">autobiography</a>, screen and theatre. He took us on his journey and cemented this as proof for generations to come. His search for his family even led him to the shores of Tasmania where he found his ancestor <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/telling-places-in-country/historical-context/historical-biographies/mannalargenna">Mannalargenna</a>.</p>
<p>At this year’s NAIDOC week, Uncle Jack <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2022/07/02/what-hoot-uncle-jack-charles-honoured-naidoc-male-elder-year1">was awarded</a> the 2022 Male Elder of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he drew attention to the prisoners he visited. He was always dedicated to acknowledging those who looked on from the sidelines, and to fight for change. </p>
<p>It was fitting he received that award. Thank you, Uncle Jack, for bringing to people’s minds and homes to not fear the other. No doubt there is mourning across all Aboriginal communities, prisoners and street people across Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-tide-turning-for-australian-sci-fi-on-the-small-screen-81259">Is the tide turning for Australian sci-fi on the small screen?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Truth telling</h2>
<p>Uncle Jack Charles was a valued member of our Aboriginal community. His commitment to advocating on behalf of incarcerated Aboriginal people knew no bounds. </p>
<p>Despite the hardships he faced of abuse as a child and incarceration as a young adult, his life made a difference to many others to hold their head up and not be ashamed. We are not invisible, and for this we thank you Uncle Jack. </p>
<p>His truth telling of his personal experiences as a member of the Stolen Generation opened the minds and understanding of many Australians, making it easier for his people to find a voice. </p>
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<p>He spoke for all Aboriginal people who struggle with everyday life. He helped people believe in the future. He showed no matter what wrong they might have done in the eyes of the law, or in the eyes of other people, there is a way to come to your own understanding and gain control of the situation. </p>
<p>Uncle Jack would have said this much better than I can. That is what was so inspiring about him: the way he spoke about his life experiences as a child, a youth, a young man and an adult. </p>
<p>To us, he was a well travelled Elder that brought so much teaching and knowledge to those who struggled or were forced to live in alternative ways. He never judged others – except to call out where there was injustice for those who did not have a voice. </p>
<p>He gave us his life teachings and, in return, there was human understanding and support for those he advocated for. </p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/preppers-is-a-deep-reading-of-colonial-violence-and-a-hilarious-must-watch-aussie-tv-comedy-170100">Preppers is a deep reading of colonial violence – and a hilarious, must-watch Aussie TV comedy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>An amazing artist</h2>
<p>Uncle Jack’s work towards understanding and comprehending the impact of government policies upon Aboriginal children and the trauma they carry with them as a result of being institutionalised became just one of the many roles he created. </p>
<p>His training as an actor instilled within him the most eloquent speech.</p>
<p>There will never be another Jack Charles – his ability to educate and tell a narrative on stage, in a television commercial and his pure acting talent in a film. </p>
<p>As an actor, performer and author he documented his life. He controlled his own narrative.</p>
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<p>In 2008, his documentary <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-09/bastardy-amiel-courtin-wilson-jack-charles-nine-years-on/8781156">Bastardy</a> told of his life as a street person and heroin addict. It was a groundbreaking teaching to those who did not know about living with addiction. By placing his own heroin use in the spotlight, he created an awareness of the perils of addiction and incarceration. </p>
<p>He toured the world with his brilliant 2010 stage play, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/theatre/jack-charles-v-the-crown-20101013-16jx3.html">Jack Charles vs the Crown</a>. Through storytelling and song, he converted government assimilation policy into an artform and a teaching tool. </p>
<p>Telling stories of the plight of Aboriginal homelessness, mental health and incarcerated men and women, he could reach an audience of all ages and make a connection to them. </p>
<p>Across Melbourne, he was easily recognised in streets, cafes and continued to be a valued member of the Aboriginal community. </p>
<p>Most of all, the younger generations recognised him. He had the ability to speak to them and they listened. </p>
<p>The young ones across Australia are feeling shock and disbelief today. My son asked “Why?”; my nephew texted me today and said “Aunt, I met him a few times, he was deadly, a deadly man”. </p>
<p>Yes, he was.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Andrews receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Uncle Jack Charles had a remarkable career of truth-telling across theatre, screen and books.Julie Andrews, Professor Indigenous Research & Convenor of Aboriginal Studies, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895302022-09-08T04:42:24Z2022-09-08T04:42:24ZThe best films at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482925/original/file-20220906-18-205e94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C11%2C3988%2C2646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After two years online, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) returned to its regular, outsized form spread across a range of inner-city, suburban and regional Victorian locations. </p>
<p>It’s been many years since the experience of the same festival has been something to share with fellow moviegoers. These days, everyone traces their own path through the myriad of bad, good and excellent films and related experiences on offer. </p>
<p>If anything, this has been accentuated post-lockdown, now it is also possible to watch some films online and stick to particular geographic locations. This certainly has had an impact on the festival, fragmenting any real sense of a coherent and truly shared experience. This is not really a criticism – as there are many advantages to being able to cherry-pick and fully curate your own festival – but a reality that reflects the smorgasbord of what is on offer. </p>
<p>This is also reflected in the attendances at the festival. These varied massively between the small number of blockbuster films on offer (things like Park Chan-wook’s atmospheric but insubstantial Decision to Leave) and the many sparsely populated screenings that characterised the two-and-a-half weeks back in the cinema. </p>
<p>The festival is a unique and essential event, but it has been as affected by the challenges of clawing back an audience. In this regard, it was fascinating to see one of the festival’s highlights, Gus Berger’s The Lost City of Melbourne. This conventional archival documentary with talking heads spoke with some urgency about the legacy and impermanence of Melbourne’s built environment with a particular focus on its many lost and few surviving picture palaces. </p>
<p>Of the 25 or so films I watched – life didn’t stop to allow me to fully feast at the table – here are five that have stayed with me.</p>
<h2>Man on Earth</h2>
<p>Over the past 20 years, Amiel Courtin-Wilson has emerged as one of Australia’s most perceptive, challenging, honest and adventurous filmmakers. His latest film, Man on Earth, is an unflinching, unguarded and deeply affecting experiential portrait of the last seven days in the life of Bob Rosenzweig. </p>
<p>Living in Washington and suffering from Parkinson’s, Bob has chosen to die with dignity. Courtin-Wilson’s intimate and deeply respectful documentary provides a touching portrait of a man making peace with those around him, including the filmmaking team. Man on Earth emerged from another project that used thermal imagery to record the final moments of human life and its afterglow. It is a true collaboration between the filmmakers and Bob, who asked them to document his last days. </p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Melbourne International Film Festival</span></span>
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<p>This provides a wonderful sense of encounter and discovery as the filmmakers (who remain careful observers and not the object of the film) get to know their subject in the hyper-aware, emotionally charged and privileged moments that mark the end of his life. Although the film remains focused on Bob and his encounters with friends and family – his last call to one of his sons on the day of his death is heart-wrenching – it also highlights the passage of time, the changes in weather and the arcs of light that sculpt his final days. </p>
<p>Man on Earth is a beautiful, pensive, deeply engaged companion piece to an extraordinary group of intimate portraits (of Jack Charles, Cecil Taylor, Robina Courtin and Ben Lee) that have provided the spine of Courtin-Wilson’s filmmaking career.</p>
<h2>Senses of Cinema</h2>
<p>This edition of the MIFF provided a rich slate of what might be called contemporary independent Australian films. A wonderful counterweight to this was John Hughes and Tom Zubrycki’s long-in-gestation Senses of Cinema, a deeply archival portrait and argument for the ongoing legacy of the film cooperative movement in Sydney and Melbourne in the late 1960s, ‘70s and early '80s. </p>
<p>Senses of Cinema draws on archival material, especially recorded interviews with key players such as Albie Thoms, Margot Nash and Phillip Noyce, as well as footage from an astute collection of the widely varied but often activist films shown and distributed by the co-ops. It provides a convincing argument for the essential contribution of these collaborative and politically charged organisations to Australian cinema. </p>
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<span class="caption">A co-op meeting as documented in Senses of Cinema.</span>
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<p>The co-ops didn’t fund or make films, but provided an essential space for local and international work to be shown and debated. Hughes and Zubrycki’s documentary borrows its name from the more recent and groundbreaking online film journal, Senses of Cinema. In so doing, it recognises a shared connection between the various facets of non-mainstream, activist, grassroots and experimental screen culture in Australia. It sits alongside the extraordinary group of documentaries devoted to leftist film history Hughes has completed over the past 40 years, as well as the more observational and deeply committed works Zubrycki has created over the same period.</p>
<p>Made by two of Australia’s most important and, at times, maverick documentarians in the twilight of their careers, Senses of Cinema speaks, in every way, to the importance of collaboration and the necessary recognition and resurrection of often-forgotten parts of our film history and culture.</p>
<h2>The Afterlight</h2>
<p>Both Man on Earth and Senses of Cinema document lives, events and organisations as they pass into memory. Charlie Shackleton’s archival documentary, The Afterlight, memorialises those who live within an “afterlife” stored on celluloid. </p>
<p>The Afterlight is part of a broader movement in contemporary cinema and gallery art that highlights the decay and impermanence of the moving image, particularly in its material form prior to the digital turn. Taking its place alongside the work of filmmakers and video artists such as Bill Morrison and Christian Marclay, it collages together images from hundreds of films – all in black and white – that feature actors who are no longer alive. In some respects, the implications of Shackleton’s film are banal – who hasn’t registered that the images you might be watching are of people who are no longer alive? But his work is given force by both the way the images are organised and the conceptual conceit that surrounds the film’s distribution and exhibition. </p>
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<p>Afterlight was completed on celluloid and only exists in a single 35mm print that will tour the world and eventually weather and disintegrate. The varying quality of the footage it includes also speaks to the unequal fate of marginalised films alongside those that have been carefully guarded and monetised by the archive. In its global circulation it will also melancholically map the dwindling capacities of the world’s cinema to show archival films in their original state. </p>
<h2>R.M.N.</h2>
<p>Since his Cannes Palme d’Or-winning film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032846/">4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days</a>, Cristian Mungiu has been carefully building a rich filmography exploring the legacies of communism and the Ceausescu regime. His work also focuses on the deep-seated traditions and faith of Christianity, the impact of multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity on more traditional, often insular communities, and the opening up of contemporary Romania to the rest of Europe. </p>
<p>Set during the holiday period in the early days of winter, R.M.N. provides a subtle yet ultimately devastating portrait of a community gradually undone by the arrival of overseas workers, and the tide of xenophobia that crests in their wake. Centring on a local resident returning from his employment in Germany, Mungiu provides an unsettling vision of contemporary Transylvania. It shows a community embracing the modern world while also returning to the ancient prejudices and behaviours that lie just beneath the surface. </p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Melbourne International Film Festival</span></span>
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<p>Taking its name from the Romanian acronym for a MRI, R.M.N. is an outstanding portrait of a physical, experiential and psychological environment. It’s a film that seems usefully unresolved, providing a heat map of the urges, prejudices and troubling histories that sit just below its often-beautiful, wintry surface.</p>
<h2>Corsage</h2>
<p>Along with R.M.N., Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will undoubtedly move on to a relatively wide release in the world’s arthouses. </p>
<p>On one level, it follows the conventions of what we might expect of a late 19th-century period piece. But it combines this with a revisionist account of the life of Empress Elizabeth of Austria (popularly know as Sissi) as she turns 40 and starts to question the restrictive public role she has been corseted into. </p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Melbourne International Film Festival</span></span>
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<p>The cinematic representation and legacy of the figure of Sissi is indelibly marked by the trilogy of films made in the 1950s featuring the breathtakingly young and beautiful Romy Schneider in the title role. Kreutzer provides a different perspective on Sissi’s life, experience and appearance, drawing an extraordinary performance out of Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) in the central role. </p>
<p>Corsage wades into very crowded waters alongside other 21st-century feminist takes on historical figures like Marie Antoinette and Princess Diana – and the use of modern pop songs on the soundtrack certainly brings to mind Sofia Coppola’s opus. Nevertheless, it provides a singular account of famous and admired woman trying to break free from the shackles of both societal expectation and history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I do know several of the filmmakers mentioned in this article - Ameiel Courtin-Wilson, John Hughes & Tom Zubrycki (this is not surprising within Australian screen culture & considering my role as a curator). I have curated programs of their works perviously for the Melbourne Cinematheque. Other than co-programming screenings devoted to the Co-ops, I have had no direct involvement with any of these films.</span></em></p>Our expert shares the five films from the Melbourne International Film Festival that have stuck with him.Adrian Danks, Associate professor in Cinema and Media Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876252022-08-11T20:04:32Z2022-08-11T20:04:32ZFriday essay: sex, swimming and smudgy louvres – watching Monkey Grip 40 years on<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478246/original/file-20220809-16-p1hk56.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C19%2C673%2C442&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An early poster for Monkey Grip, starring Noni Hazelhurst and Colin Friels.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The woman’s name is Nora, and she’s getting out of the pool when she goes to look at the guy she’s seeing and sees something better: a sexy stranger, Javo, who radiates a type of bruisy depth. He hangs back near the famous sign, AQUA PROFONDA, while Nora and the guy she’s seeing, Martin, do their thing. He looks like he’ll be trouble, but not the bad kind of trouble; the kind it might be interesting to catch.</p>
<p>Nora learns from a mate that Javo likes heroin, though he seems to have kicked it; the mate is the girlfriend of Nora’s housemate, and in the anything-goes manner of the time, Javo is soon hanging out with Nora and Martin, enough that Javo can ask Martin how “together” they really are, and relay Martin’s evasive response straight to Nora – a canny move for such a cruisy guy.</p>
<p>Soon, she’s taking him to an art show that she has to cover for the small, busy alternative paper for which she writes reviews. Afterwards, she asks him if he’d like to stay the night. “That would be good,” he tells her, and it’s on.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman and man, smiling, stand in front of a weathered wall, the side of a house" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478176/original/file-20220809-19-ffr1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Noni Hazelhurst as Nora and Colin Friels as Javo in Ken Cameron’s 1982 film Monkey Grip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the morning, Nora’s 11-year-old daughter, Gracie, finds out; Martin finds out. After Javo heads off, Nora relaxes in the kitchen and says, “I suppose I’ve done it again” – the wrong thing, the wrong man – but the story we’re talking about, of course, is Ken Cameron’s <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/monkey-grip-1982/122/">Monkey Grip</a> (1982), and the casting of Noni Hazlehurst is one of its great coups. </p>
<p>Resignation, pleasure, self-satisfaction, concern: it’s all there in the delivery, and it all takes a back seat to a wonderful feeling that it doesn’t matter much at all. She supposes she’s done it again, and you may now grow aware of a disquieting question that is interesting to this movie the way a mouse is interesting to a cat.</p>
<p>Maybe understanding the implications of what you’re doing has little to no bearing on whether or not it’s actually done? And then the inverse – you can be wise enough to know what’s happening to you and have it happen anyway. This suspicion becomes unbearable as the film goes on. Nora’s carefree nature, which can be cruel but is rarely nasty, lifts the viewer and carries them over the movie’s darkest parts, but there’s always the sense that something irrevocable is happening, a little bit past the line of sight, a little way out of control.</p>
<h2>Making a novel into a movie</h2>
<p>The film is based on Helen Garner’s 1977 novel, and Garner and Cameron are listed as co-writers. On the indispensable website Ozmovies, where <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/monkey-grip-1982/122/">the Monkey Grip entry</a> splices an interview with Cameron by Peter Malone and an account of Cameron’s DVD commentary into a narrative of how the screenplay was written, Cameron explains that he cut up and re-pasted the novel, typed it up “so that it resembled a movie”, then finessed the adaptation in constant conversation with Garner; he has a collection of letters in which she suggests solutions and scenes. </p>
<p>Garner says on the DVD commentary that she saw 14 or 15 drafts of the script, and then was there for the filming because Nora’s daughter, Gracie, is played by her own daughter, Alice, who is a sharp presence through the film, cheery and watchful, and possessed of slightly eerie wisdom.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1DK_GmoxOfI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Helen Garner co-wrote the film Monkey Grip, with director Ken Cameron.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Garner disliked the casting of Colin Friels as Javo, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/bach-to-the-future-20080614-2qob.html">telling</a> The Age’s Peter Wilmoth in 2008, “I just can’t believe they cast Colin Friels as the junkie. [. . .] He was so healthy, a great big bouncing muscly surfing guy.” We all know people like Javo – if not the heroin, then the sulky mood – and it’s true that they’re not Colin Friels. </p>
<p>But I think of a point that a friend once made about a different kind of story, where two impossibly hot people have a meet-cute on a tram. That doesn’t happen in real life, someone at the time complained. But there are people in the world who look like that, my friend explained; when they hook up, it’s often with each other, and it has to happen <em>somewhere</em>. </p>
<p>If Friels’s Javo is not realistic to the story, then neither, perhaps, is Hazlehurst’s Nora, and you have to have someone like Friels to make the viewer believe that someone like Hazlehurst would give him the time of day. Monkey Grip is a movie, and it has to have some glitz. They have to hook up <em>somewhere</em>, and they hook up here.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman riding a bike past the Edinburgh Gardens" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478247/original/file-20220809-20-m5kemu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Noni Hazelhurst’s Nora seemed to herald a new era of complex roles for women in 1982.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Umbrella Entertainment</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sex was an issue for this film. At first, nobody liked it, neither the distributors, nor “most of” the Australian Film Commission, which, speculated producer <a href="https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/vale-patricia-lovell">Patricia Lovell</a>, saw it as pornographic. Stratton had interviewed Lovell for his 1990 book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16041149-the-avocado-plantation">The Avocado Plantation</a>, about the turbulent economics of the 1980s in Australian film. The story of Monkey Grip’s production is harrowing. It almost found funding, but “fell over for lack of $150,000”. </p>
<p>Lovell moved on and produced <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082432/">Gallipoli</a> instead; by the time tax breaks made production more viable, other costs had gone up, so it was still a struggle to fund. When it finally got off the ground, some new funding problem meant that it looked like production might delay for two weeks – sending Lovell to hospital, where she spent 48 hours under sedation from nervous exhaustion. </p>
<p>When the film was done, Lovell heard that Gilles Jacob, director of the Cannes Film Festival, had been told “by someone in authority” that “the Australian government would not be pleased if Monkey Grip competed at Cannes” (though it did). Lovell screened the movie for three distributors in Melbourne, all of whom turned it down; one told her, “I loathed it.” Finally, Lovell distributed it herself, and after the first week’s takings offered proof of its heft, it was picked up officially by Roadshow.</p>
<p>Lots of films are incredibly sexy or incredibly sexual (dark, yearning, weird); Monkey Grip is both. It shows the parts of sex that are all about desperation, habit and distraction as much as those that are about intimacy, spontaneity or fun. </p>
<p>The first time Nora has sex with Javo is full-on, but first it’s so tentative that you think it might not happen; they get under the covers and at first you think they might just go to sleep. As soon as it’s happening, you realise that it was silly to think it might not. The eyes are closed, the clothes are off, the facial expressions work very hard; there’s some finger-sucking where the camera doesn’t cut away, and a kiss that’s more sexual than the finger-sucking.</p>
<p>Cameron told Stratton: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had no problem with the actors during the filming of those scenes. I felt it was worth going all the way with them, and I was young enough not to have hang-ups. The atmosphere on the set was a bit funny: in the end, I had the entire crew, myself included, rehearse naked . . . we all believed in the novel and the film, so we felt those scenes had to be done that way.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s great, and sex reappears throughout the film as something that’s both absolutely normal – enmeshed in work, time, reading, eating sandwiches, meeting deadlines, having daughters, moving house, writing lyrics, being in bands – and something that’s like Javo: on a spectrum between consuming and impossible.</p>
<h2>On smack</h2>
<p>After Javo behaves oddly at a party, he says to Nora, “You just don’t get it, do you?” When he’d told her he was “stoned” earlier, he meant he was on smack. Nora smiles and kisses him. Javo overdoses. Nora visits him in hospital, where Javo is smoking. He looks at an old man across the room and says, “Jeez, old people give me the shits.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a sad-looking woman with shaggy hair looks to the right" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478233/original/file-20220809-22-x5kab1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The film-tie in cover of Monkey Grip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abebooks</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Javo comes over to Nora’s share house and finds her in the shower and decides that she will be the one to give him outpatient care. Someone who knows how to inject penicillin comes over to show her how it’s done. Nora gives the injection; Javo is upset. They make jokes about the penicillin injection that are really jokes about junk; Gracie grabs the needle and says, “Don’t do it – you’ll get hooked!” All laugh. Everything in the house appears to settle down. Javo becomes part of the family, presiding over the children Nora lives with and the sharing of gifts.</p>
<p>And then one day Javo’s gone. First there is a false bottom, which presages those to come. He’s gone, and Nora finds him again, in a kind of drab bohemian lair, a large, dark, brick building with an arched window, where he gets to gesture at a traumatic origin. He has sex with Nora. He says – or sort of says; the line is fed by Nora – that his father is the reason women “never hit the mark”. </p>
<p>That night, Nora wakes up and Javo isn’t there. She finds him in another room, in the middle of shooting up, which he finishes doing despite her presence, half meeting her eyes. And then he’s really gone; he’s off to Singapore, with Martin (the guy Nora was seeing at the start – played by Tim Burns). Javo sends Nora a postcard. He wrote it on the plane, so there’s nothing about the trip itself. The world has swallowed him up.</p>
<p>The seasons change; Nora’s place of residence changes. She hears news in the winter that Javo is in Bangkok, in prison for stealing sunglasses (also with Martin). She sends him letters daily. “I miss him a real lot,” she tells a friend she’s hooking up with. “Like a piece of glass stuck in your foot,” the friend suggests.</p>
<p>And then, one sunny day, he’s back – in a garden full of hanging ferns and staghorns, Nora’s new, less-ramshackle share house. They go inside; she touches his face; they have sex slowly. “Now that he was back all the splinters of my life made sense again,” narrates Nora. </p>
<p>But straight away, there are new complications – pasta, women, alternative theatre. Nora takes Javo for coffee and gnocchi with her pension cheque, and Javo ruins it by going to talk to another woman under the obvious pretext that he wants to see what kind of cigarettes they’ve got behind the counter. The woman is Lillian (Candy Raymond), a co-star in a play he’s acting in, and he lurks on the other side of the restaurant chatting her up while the waiter brings the meals out to Nora.</p>
<p>“I mean, she’s too much,” Javo tells Nora; but Nora “feel[s] like she’s lining you up”. Later, the play is staged, in an awful and effective little scene, with Javo as the greasy bartender in a shiny vest, while Lillian is playing a “sight for sore eyes”, a “babe” in a silver slitted dress. </p>
<p>He has to throw up, he leaves the stage but doesn’t quite make it, getting as far as a prop piano bench. Nora runs down from the audience to tend to him, and he keeps speaking his lines while he’s sick.</p>
<h2>A third-act feeling</h2>
<p>Now there’s a third-act feeling; things begin to escalate. But part of what makes it so hard to watch – so like relationships you’ve seen people have, relationships you’ve been in – is that there aren’t any climaxes or moments where peace is restored, there’s just peaks that mean nothing, moments of understanding that distract from other problems, resolutions that will probably be broken. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman, mirrored, with a man, mirrored, and two hands gripping each other across the poster" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478232/original/file-20220809-22-hux0f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ken Cameron found Helen Garner’s novel, Monkey Grip, hard to adapt for film.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Movie Database</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Garner told Wilmoth that Cameron found her novel hard to adapt for film because </p>
<blockquote>
<p>it hasn’t really got a filmic structure. It’s like a long-running TV series . . . it just starts and it goes on and on and eventually it stops.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The film mirrors the novel, which mirrors life, yes, but it also mirrors Javo, whose personal magnetism is all the more striking because the rest of him is staggering, exhausting. Cameron cast him after Doc Neeson, frontman of the Angels, dropped out and Cameron saw Friels at the Sydney Opera House playing Hamlet. For all his gravity he’s also disappointing and ordinary (“Jeez, old people give me the shits”); the story is never allowed to settle around him.</p>
<p>He creeps into Nora’s bed for comfort like a sick kid would. She holds him and kisses him. A needle is left out on the dining room table, in the middle of a household scene where the children are hitting Nora in the head with their dolls and asking her to make them cups of Milo. </p>
<p>“I want to stop,” says Javo, “but I can’t do it now. I can’t stop while the play’s on . . . I can’t perform when I’m coming down.” Nora understands. “When the play’s finished I’ll get off it and we’ll go away somewhere, go up north.” They’ll go to Sydney, see some friends, go to the beach, get a tan. He’ll go cold turkey. “I’m sick of the junk,” he says.</p>
<p>Cut to Javo playing harmonica in the passenger seat of a Mack truck being driven by a stranger, Nora and Gracie in the back. Soon, they’re at a diner just outside of Sydney, facing the kinds of problems faced by families on Australian road trips. They can’t order pies because the diner microwave’s turned off. Perhaps things are going to be all right.</p>
<h2>Filming Sydney as ‘a pretty good Melbourne’</h2>
<p>Although Cameron seems sheepish about the fact that Monkey Grip was filmed largely in Sydney – he explains in the DVD commentary that he was based in Sydney, as were Lovell, the DOP and the production designer, so by the time casting was done (in Sydney) and they’d secured funding, “we’d dug a big hole for ourselves in Sydney” – it’s a great joke of the movie that it does a pretty good Melbourne. </p>
<p>“I would have loved to have made it in Melbourne,” says Cameron, beyond the one week of exteriors he was able to film: “it’s the plaster that you see outside the window, it’s just all sorts of tiny things that you can’t reproduce”. </p>
<p>But when Nora rides her bike down a wide, leafy street, it feels like a suburb of Melbourne where you just haven’t been. Because the film is iconic to Melbourne (as is the novel), it’s satisfying that this seems to have no impact on viewers, as little as knowing that Rear Window <a href="http://movie-locations.com/movies/r/Rear-Window.php">was filmed in LA</a>. It undercuts the seriousness that forms around iconic things; it makes it easier to see the thing itself.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eeRBctkbd7o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Monkey Grip was filmed in Sydney, but here are some of the Melbourne exterior scenes, spliced together.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When they get to Sydney – which scenes were also filmed in Sydney – the house they stay in is all pink light. The bed is “pre-warmed” by a dog. ‘What a good idea!’ says Javo when Gracie jumps in the bed, and they cuddle up together. It’s holiday time. With a clean shirt, Sydney light, and a comb run through his hair, Javo is transformed into a man on the upswing. Nora catches him trying to take money from her purse while she’s napping and says “Jeez, you’re good-looking.” He asks if 20 bucks is okay; he’s “just going to see some friends”.</p>
<p>While he’s out, Gracie consults the I Ching – big part of the novel, small part of the film – about the likelihood that the three of them will be going as planned to Manly tomorrow. The universe responds and says “don’t count on it, sister”. Nora asks Gracie what she thinks of Javo, who acknowledges that he’s a junkie, which of course has its problems, but, “You should be nicer to him, and leave him alone, that’s what I reckon.” When he finally comes home, Nora finds him in the kitchen, suspiciously going to town on a baguette. </p>
<p>“This was supposed to be a holiday,” says Nora. “What are you doing, what do you want?” He says, “I want some Vegemite,” and it’s all downhill from there. He converts a fight about doing smack and making empty promises into a discussion about whether or not he’s understood. If she understood him, would she like him? A good question at the wrong time.</p>
<p>Later on, in bed, he says, “I do this over and over. Whenever I get something good, I destroy it.” But just as he’s really exhausted your patience (you lose patience with both of them), the film finds something new in the couple, which is one of the pleasures of the looser, TV-like structure, where characters don’t have to change and grow; they can surprise you with qualities that disappear, then emerge anew, as if shuffled. </p>
<p>When it’s obvious that they’re done with each other, generosity becomes possible. They have a tender disagreement about which of them is going to leave the trip early and go home to Melbourne. It’s him. They kiss. As he rides away in the cab, he plays a little riff on his harmonica and gifts it to Gracie. Gracie and Nora catch the ferry to Manly. “You’ll get over it,” Gracie advises Nora. The ferry’s nice at night, she observes. While Javo has been happening to Nora, Gracie has been growing up. How often do you get to see this kind of thing on film, the child turning casually into the adult? </p>
<p>In The Avocado Plantation, Stratton points out that Hazlehurst as Nora in 1982 seemed like it would herald a coming age of complex roles for women actors, which the rest of the 1980s turned out to largely squander. He also mentions Wendy Hughes’s role as Vanessa in Carl Schultz’s excellent 1983 movie <a href="https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/careful-he-might-hear-you">Careful, He Might Hear You</a>, another adaptation of a well-loved Australian novel. </p>
<p>I got chills when Nora and Gracie went on the Manly Ferry; at the end of Careful, He Might Hear You, Vanessa, who’s a snob, decides for once in her life to cross the Harbour on the Ferry, gets into a collision, and drowns. Over in Melbourne, Hazlehurst’s Nora puts on her lipstick and decides it’s time to give her life a little TLC. Her metaphor is a tub that’s been draining towards Javo; now it’s time to put the plug back in.</p>
<p>She goes to a gig. (It looks like The Corner, but I’m sure it’s in Sydney.) One of the odd surprises of the film is that Chrissy Amphlett, Divinyls frontwoman, plays a muso in Nora’s circle named Angela; at the gig, she plays ‘Boys in Town’ from start to finish, but with actors playing the band (the rest of the Divinyls turned down roles in the film). </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dRuNkBybku0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Chrissy Amphlett plays Nora’s muso friend Angela in Monkey Grip.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nora’s hair is slicked down and tied back; she’s wearing a sleek, feathered dress. She cuts loose, dances, laughs with friends; she reconnects with former housemate Clive (played with warmth by Michael Caton). Nora’s world remains spiky and young but it’s comfy without Javo. Soon, she’s writing in front of an open fire. She’s writing on a tram. She writes a short story addressing her feelings towards Lillian and doesn’t think there’s any particular reason to show it to her before publishing. Her life changes again. She moves house again. There’s the sticky business of telling her housemate, but these things are there to be dealt with.</p>
<p>“I just want it quite clear,” she tells the man she’s moving in with, “that we’re not moving into this house as a couple.” She reads books; she looks up words in the dictionary. Around her, children squabble. The framed picture of Virginia Woolf that Nora transports between residences assumes its place above the new workstation, perpetually stately and sentinel. Then, once again, there he is, in a striped shirt of thin fabric and a ragged, rather fashion-forward open seam. “You look great,” she says. “What happened?”</p>
<p>It’s Javo’s softer side. They go up to her bedroom. He sits in a sunny chair. “I’ve been having a really good time these days,” he says. “I’ve been knocking around a bit. Seen Lillian a couple of times.” Nora lies on the bed looking deeply unimpressed. Unprompted, Javo explains that he never loved Nora; he really needed her when he came back from Thailand, but he’s starting to feel better again. A tear slides down her cheek. “Come on, mate, we can outlast the lot of them,” he says. “We see so little of each other, we’re bound to,” she says, as if that’s the point.</p>
<p>In another room Nora’s housemate sits on the bed, playing guitar in his yellow socks and Volleys. He knows Javo is there but he’s being tactful about it. Later, they all go to a party. Life happens around them. A woman at the party observes that men do not like liberated women. People meet for quiet chats by a trellis adorned with green lights. And then the awful moment: someone’s crying in the dark over a can of Fosters and it turns out, incredibly, they’re crying about you.</p>
<p>It’s Lillian, and she’s now read Nora’s published story, the one she decided not to tell Lillian about. “Events don’t belong to people,” Nora explains. But everyone knows who the characters are, Lillian argues. “Twenty people in Carlton do not constitute everybody!” says Nora. </p>
<p>Lillian accuses Nora of just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/25/helen-garners-monkey-grip-makes-me-examine-who-i-am">publishing her diaries</a> – a critique that famously dogged Garner at the time, as if, she wrote in an essay in 2001 and was still telling Claudia Karvan in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-28/books-that-made-us-puts-australian-literature-in-the-spotlight/100645224">an ABC special</a> 20 years later, writing diaries isn’t an interesting, challenging, valuable thing to do. But there’s no time for that discourse; Javo is inside, and look – he’s thrown up on himself again.</p>
<p>“Sorry, Nor!” he says. “Guess the dope’s fucked me liver.”</p>
<p>“Don’t be sorry, people have had to do this for me heaps of times,” she fibs, as she picks him up and hauls him away from the party. </p>
<p>Her housemate goes on tour. She rides her bike; she thinks. She drops a letter round to Lillian’s: “Can you see this gets to Javo?” She keeps riding her bike – one of the skills Hazlehurst had to learn for the film; the other, she told Women’s Weekly, was swimming – and soon she’s at her old share house, where lovely Clive still lives. She cries in his arms. She cries in the arms of a woman she hasn’t met. She leaves the house and cries again in front of the cast-iron fence. Was this scene filmed in Melbourne? Again, if not, it’s a pretty good fake.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="swimmers in the Fitzroy Pool, with the words 'AQUA PROFUNDA' (deep water) on the wall behind them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478174/original/file-20220809-26-mtzcdn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fitzroy Pool, with its famous ‘AQUA PROFONDA’ sign, is an iconic Monkey Grip location: ‘a paradise’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ashton_29">Ash29/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And now we’re back at Fitzroy Pool, and it’s summer again. In the DVD commentary, Alice Garner points out that the scenes at the pool, which were filmed at <a href="https://www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/RALC">Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre</a>, have done the trick for any Melburnian who’s seen the film, and even Cameron says he’s “quite proud” of the recreation. (When I watched it, I took it as self-sighted gospel that the bleachers at the Fitzroy Pool used to be blue on the verticals.) </p>
<p>Rachel Ang, whose 2018 comic <a href="https://www.glompress.com/swimsuit-by-rachel-ang">Swimsuit</a> was set at Fitzroy Pool, told me they set the comic there because “it’s really an amphitheatre, this stage for all kinds of emotional drama”. Ang, who is also an architect, was struck by the “formal power” of the space where the sun acts as a spotlight and shines on “everything”, the dramas and their social implications. </p>
<p>Victoria Hannan, whose 2020 novel <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/victoria-hannan/kokomo">Kokomo</a> also has a critical scene set at the pool, told me that she did so as a “direct tribute” to Monkey Grip – the scene in the novel where Nora tells Clive, “No-one will understand but this is a paradise.”</p>
<p>I wanted to spend this time with the plot of Monkey Grip because I wanted to try to see, if I could, the thing itself. By the end of the movie, what’s obvious is that the thing itself extends beyond the characters and past the movie’s frame, into the rich shine of the sunshine, the blue soak of the pool. </p>
<p>There are fabulous clothes (Nora wears everything from a fuzzy tangerine sweater to a pair of pedal-pushers in animal print; even Martin, at one point, wears a denim jacket and rope-net shirt). It’s the yeahs, give-it-a-burls, fair-dinkums, I-think-it’s-beauts; a song done well at band practice is described as “very tasty”. It’s the slowness, the detail, the gossip, the repetition. Everyone’s always smoking in front of louvres that are always smudgy, and though the men may look unfathomable, they’re also always there.</p>
<p>At the pool, Nora gossips with another old housemate. Gracie gossips at the water’s edge with the old housemate’s kid. Javo is at the pool, under the AQUA PROFONDA sign. Nora approaches him in possibly the best outfit of the film, a red cap and lemon bomber over a one-piece bathing suit. It makes her happy that Javo’s doing well, but it’s bloody painful, too. It’s like watching a kid grow up and take off. She liked him needing her.</p>
<p>“Mate,” Javo says. “Our relationship’s permanent. Maybe we could go out tonight or something.” But she’s seeing a movie with Gracie. She remembers him the summer before, and it makes her reflect on their world, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>how we thrashed about, swapping and changing partners, like a complicated dance to which the steps hadn’t quite been learned, all of us somehow trying to move gracefully, in spite of our ignorance. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A beautiful score rises, quite heavy with strings. Everything is blue. The credits rise. The movie ends.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This essay is extracted from <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/melbourne-film">Melbourne on Film: Cinema That Defines Our City</a> (RRP:$34.99), which is published by Melbourne International Film Festival and Black Inc.</em></p>
<p><em>Monkey Grip will screen at MIFF on <a href="https://miff.com.au/program/film/monkey-grip">Sunday 14 August</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187625/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronnie Scott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ken Cameron’s film of Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip is dark, yearning, weird – and incredibly sexy – writes Ronnie Scott.Ronnie Scott, Senior Lecturer, Creative Writing, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1831292022-05-24T20:04:40Z2022-05-24T20:04:40Z‘I want an orgasm but not just any orgasm’: How To Please A Woman shifts the way we depict the sexuality of older women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464897/original/file-20220524-14810-6r0yfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C4785%2C3168&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian writer and director Renée Webster’s new film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10530838/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">How to Please a Woman</a> turns much of what we think we know about sexual desire – especially for older women – on its head.</p>
<p>How to Please a Woman features 50-something Gina (Sally Phillips), who hasn’t had sex with her husband (Cameron Daddo) in over a year because he is no longer interested in sexual relations – with her or anyone.</p>
<p>Gina’s main source of intimacy comes from the regular beach swims she has with a group of three women (Tasma Walton, Caroline Brazier, and Hayley McElhinney) and their changing-room conversations that cover everything from peeing on jellyfish stings to the multipurpose use of coconut oil, including as a natural lubricant.</p>
<p>When Gina’s friends rent a stripper (Alexander England) to dance for her on her birthday (a much more intimate present than the two $50 bills she receives from her husband), and he offers to do anything for her (“Anything?” “Totally …”) she asks him to clean her house.</p>
<p>Realising the pleasure she experienced having her house cleaned by a shirtless, handsome man, Gina starts her own male cleaning business and her swimming crew become her first clients. </p>
<p>But they want more than their houses cleaned. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ZLv4v4odkE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>The sexual desire of women over 50</h2>
<p>One of the strengths of this film is the sensitive way it represents the different desires of individual women. After all, the title of the film is How to Please <em>a</em>
Woman not <em>How to Please Women</em>.</p>
<p>For Gina to ensure her clients receive the pleasure they want, she meets individually with them and writes down their preferences. One woman wants to take it slow and start with gin and tonic. Another woman does not want her breasts touched. A third woman wants a very specific orgasm: she does not want just any orgasm that sneaks up on you, but one you ease up to and pull away from, ease up to and pull away from until total annihilation. Another client says that after several bookings with men she is starting to feel all kinds of things, so she wants to book a session with a woman.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464899/original/file-20220524-14-h6s8xw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hayley McElhinney, Tasma Walton, Sally Phillips and Caroline Brazier in How To Please A Woman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is rare to see in popular culture a range of mostly older women being frank about what gives them sexual pleasure and to see how their desire become more adventurous and diverse. Sadly, the sexual desire of women over 50 is often unrepresented, misrepresented, and/or shown as comedic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grace-and-frankie-is-the-longest-running-series-on-netflix-and-a-show-for-women-who-dont-see-themselves-on-television-182298">Grace and Frankie is the longest running series on Netflix – and a show for women who don’t see themselves on television</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The socially transmitted disease of ageism</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Sex_Matters_for_Women/BtX56c0CuMkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">Foley, Kope & Sugrue</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The greatest barrier to a woman’s sexuality in midlife is the socially transmitted disease of ageism. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Older women are represented as asexual and past it. They are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar_(slang)">“cougars”</a> or ageing <a href="https://ijlls.org/index.php/ijlls/article/view/784">femme fatales</a>, like Blanche Du Bois in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, who set a tone for generations as a figure of fun whose desires are twisted, ridiculed, and ultimately punished.</p>
<p>Older age is by far the largest developmental human period plagued by misconceptions and stereotypes, kept alive by incessant jokes.</p>
<p>And no gender absorbs these jokes more than the female. Sexiness is equated with youth, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/invisible-lives-where-are-all-the-older-women-in-film-and-tv-168012">older women and their sexuality are made invisible</a>. When older women are represented in popular media, their sexuality is <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/hollywoods-intentional-and-harmful-neglect-of-women-over-50/">often not shown</a> or is aligned with deviance, such as in the relationship between Darlene and Wyatt in Netflix’s highly-acclaimed Ozark.</p>
<p>Depictions in media trivialising desirous or sexually active older women, or women who seek sex outside of loving and steady relationships as abnormal, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24384365/">contribute to negative stereotypes</a> and to judgemental attitudes about older sexuality.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464901/original/file-20220524-16-bqkf5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alexander England and Sally Phillips.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>And just like that…</h2>
<p>Fortunately, we are starting to see the lives of women over 50 appear more positively in stories on television, recent examples including <a href="https://theconversation.com/frank-unapologetic-and-female-oriented-the-cultural-legacy-of-sex-and-the-city-and-the-lure-of-the-reboot-175061">And Just Like That</a> the reboot of Sex and the City, and the hugely popular Netflix comedy series <a href="https://theconversation.com/grace-and-frankie-is-the-longest-running-series-on-netflix-and-a-show-for-women-who-dont-see-themselves-on-television-182298">Grace and Frankie</a> – and in films like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414/">It’s Complicated</a> and Girl’s Trip.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/frank-unapologetic-and-female-oriented-the-cultural-legacy-of-sex-and-the-city-and-the-lure-of-the-reboot-175061">Frank, unapologetic, and female-oriented: the cultural legacy of Sex and the City, and the lure of the reboot</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The tone of these stories plays more for laughs, though, while How to Please a Woman balances between comedy and drama. <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/watch/interview-director-renee-webster-on-how-to-please-a-woman-and-finding-the-comedy-in-truth-and-pain/">As director Renée Webster says</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The best comedy comes from truth and a little bit of pain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How to Please a Woman shows older women’s sexual desire as respectful and tender for both women and men, even though it is set within a comedy. </p>
<p>But the women aren’t being laughed at, they’re the ones laughing. This depiction seems new and significant. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02701260">Stories impact and inspire relationships</a> and images about ageing and sexuality influence individual behaviour. </p>
<p><a href="https://if.com.au/with-how-to-please-a-woman-renee-webster-puts-the-audience-first/?fbclid=IwAR1sPidra6uO64jjiSbyfbQ069LrZQ8ZBLYUXpX0tdL-7CjE63J1yAtuRks">Webster herself says</a> she is “starting to get unsolicited texts of my friends’ husbands vacuuming the carpet and hearing from people that they took something home from the movie, and it opened up some new conversations for them.”</p>
<p>Female sexuality is seen as part of a rich fabric of women’s lives, not its single orgasmic culmination. As Steve (Erik Thomson) says in the film while eating a croissant, “one is never enough.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debra Dudek receives funding from the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP190102435). The views expressed herein are those of this author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Reid Boyd and Madalena Grobbelaar do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sadly, the sexual desire of women over 50 is often unrepresented, misrepresented, and shown as comedic in culture – the new Australian film depicts a different reality.Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan UniversityElizabeth Reid Boyd, Senior Lecturer School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan UniversityMadalena Grobbelaar, Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1763612022-04-07T20:02:03Z2022-04-07T20:02:03ZStraight to the pool room: a love letter to The Castle on its 25th anniversary<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454012/original/file-20220324-23-5xk6m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1794%2C1191&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The phrases “Tell him he’s dreamin’”, “That’s going straight to the pool room”, “How’s the serenity?” and “It’s the vibe” have become Aussie staples. These now-classic quotes all come from The Castle - voted the <a href="https://10play.com.au/theproject/articles/australia-votes-the-castle-as-favourite-movie-of-all-time/tpa220123fkyho">best Australian film ever</a> in a recent poll.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/">The Castle</a> was released in Australia 25 years go. It charmed the socks off us on its release and its reputation and influence as the quintessential Australian film have grown since. </p>
<p>Centred on an ordinary working class family, the Kerrigans, the film tells of their legal fight against greedy developers and the government when their house and land are threatened with a plan to extend an airport runway. </p>
<p>When his neighbours’ properties are also targeted, Darryl Kerrigan, the father, organises a protest committee. It hires perhaps the most inept suburban solicitor, Dennis Denuto (Tiriel Mora), to dispute the case in court - and fails. Dennis’s main defence is that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s the constitution. It’s Mabo. It’s justice. It’s law. It’s the vibe … no, that’s it, it’s the vibe. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>It’s the vibe</h2>
<p>Reputedly <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-castle-star-michael-catons-tiny-salary-finally-revealed/news-story/470e84d6c6e933022878909c0cdde864">filmed over 11 days</a> on a very small budget, it <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/">stars mostly television actors</a>, or those who were at that time just emerging, such as Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Eric Bana and Wayne Hope. It’s true the production values are ordinary at best and the visuals are uninspiring, but who cares? This all adds to the feeling of the familiar and very real world of the Kerrigans. </p>
<p>The best parts of the film are the characters, the exploration of family and most importantly, the naive and gentle humour expressed through the character’s dialogue. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UriWPC9Z7ac?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The film is full of dad jokes that you just know Darryl tells over and over. From telling opposing lawyers to “suffer in their jocks”, or saying every cheap knick-knack they find is “going straight to the pool-room”, the humour is comprised of bad puns, repetitive gags and parochial sayings.</p>
<p>Darryl’s repetitive, good-natured bits, such as being amazed at every dinner that his wife makes, regardless of whether it’s just rissoles or chicken, is clearly meant to be humorous - but we don’t laugh at the Kerrigans, we laugh with them.</p>
<p>This is because the humour is all expressed through their glass half full view of the world. All of the Kerrigans have this eternal positivity and optimism. After losing the court case and facing eviction, they look for the good in it. Most people would be happy not to live next to a busy airport but Dale Kerrigan only sees the benefits, “It will be very convenient if we ever have to fly one day”.</p>
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<h2>Straight to the pool room</h2>
<p>The Kerrigan values are similar to many working class Australians: anti-authoritarianism, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/orright-you-spunkrats-heres-where-all-our-aussie-summertime-language-came-from-171113">Aussie battler ethos</a>, a sense of political antipathy, and a belief in common sense and that natural justice will prevail. This is why this film has endured over so many years - Australians recognise themselves in the characters. </p>
<p>The Kerrigans are just ordinary people who find delight in their ordinariness. Darryl works the tow-truck, they have little money, their house is built on a landfill site and their eldest son is in prison. They go on holiday - not to Bali or Hawaii, but to Bonnie Doon, a little country town with a small lake and a shack that Darryl built amongst towering electricity pylons. A place many people would run a mile from. </p>
<p>Again, the family don’t see this as a negative. As Dale says wisely, “Dad, he reckons power-lines are a reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity”.</p>
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<p>The Castle embraces an A Current Affair mentality - that someone, somewhere in business or in government is always trying to rip-off the honest little guy. Darryl Kerrigan represents all the honest, hard working Australian battlers who have been done over by forces greater than them. We all want to see the tables turned and the little guy win - this is why underdog stories such as this are so popular.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/orright-you-spunkrats-heres-where-all-our-aussie-summertime-language-came-from-171113">Orright you spunkrats, here's where all our Aussie summertime language came from</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<h2>Dale has dug a hole</h2>
<p>But The Castle goes beyond such simple classifications. The events portrayed are just a sideline to the family dynamics - the bond of family and community in every situation, good and bad, is paramount to the film. </p>
<p>Every Kerrigan supports each other and celebrates their achievements no matter how small, such as the pride they have in Dale having dug a hole. Even if the Kerrigans aren’t like your family, you secretly wish they were.</p>
<p>How deeply embedded the characters and dialogue are in the Australian psyche can be demonstrated is one anecdote. The real Bonnie Doon shack was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-30/going-to-bonnie-doon-castle-shack-up-for-sale/1922894">listed for sale</a> in 2011. The estate agent was inundated with people calling asking for the price. When told, <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-castles-shack-goes-up-for-sale/news-story/612b5ddf386c481195ac7fd7796c3792">they universally replied</a>, “Tell him he’s dreamin’”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176361/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Sparkes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian classic The Castle is turning 25 this month - here’s why its iconic quotes and Aussie battler story have become beloved and revered.Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer (Media Studies and Production), University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1764492022-02-07T03:49:08Z2022-02-07T03:49:08ZHere Out West: a film that centres Western Sydney through tales of marginality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444694/original/file-20220207-21-127ykzi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3115%2C1756&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tania Lambert/Here Out West</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>An anthology film usually makes us think of romantic comedies released over Christmas that showcase a global city through interconnected plot lines, or a series of vignette-like character studies by critically-acclaimed directors. </p>
<p>Produced by Western Sydney-based company Co-Curious and Emerald Productions, Here Out West doesn’t follow the traditional anthology film formula, and it doesn’t showcase the glamorous post codes of Sydney, or assemble the works of big name creatives and cast. Nonetheless Here out West, a film that intertwines eight distinct interconnected scenarios set in Western Sydney, is as globally-oriented and locally-inspired as Australian cinema gets. </p>
<p>That is because Western Sydney is one of the the most culturally diverse regions of the nation. The sheer diversity of languages, foods, religious practices and creative traditions of its residents has historically not been enough to change the perception of the region as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/deadly-divide-between-rich-and-poor-in-sydney-20191006-p52y07.html">deprived of cultural capital</a>.</p>
<p>The writing and producing team of Here Out West set out to shift that perception by re-conceptualising what it means to tell contemporary Australian tales to a broad audience while staying true to the suburbs and communities they grew up in. </p>
<p>Consisting of stories from the Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Bangladeshi, Lebanese, Kurdish, Chinese, Turkish and Chilean migrants who call Western Sydney home, the film while imperfect in that some stories are stronger than others, is a nuanced examination of race and class.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444697/original/file-20220207-1085-14xwiwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A scene from Here Out West chapter Brotherhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Platt/ Here Out West</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Exploring Western Sydney through film</h2>
<p>Beginning with the story of a newborn kidnapped from a public hospital, we move through many other everyday locations associated with living in the west, including a soccer field, a parking lot, an apartment block, a recently arrived refugee family’s house, rides in buses as well as cars, a Chinese restaurant where the owner insists on wearing traditional garb, and the site of a new housing development with house and land packages on offer. </p>
<p>These settings are as diverse as the people who live, work and move through them. At the same time, the film attempts to bring them together through the themes of kinship – with one’s own biological family and with the community of those many familiar and imagined others who feel a similar sense of pride in being a “Westie”.</p>
<p>One of the most poignant stories from the film is that of intercultural friendship between three young men, written by Arka Das. As one witnesses them chasing each other around run-down apartment blocks and under motorways, every stereotype of racialised masculinity surfaces. </p>
<p>The audience is led to believe that they will shortly be irrationally violent with one another, or that the chase involves illicit substances – but instead it turns out there is a comedy of errors entailing romantic interest, family and forgiveness. </p>
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<h2>An LGA of concern</h2>
<p>Premiering at the Sydney Film Festival in October 2021, the film surprised everyone (including its 8 young writers and 5 female Australian directors) by being picked as the opening night film. After all, Western Sydney was home to a lot of the areas branded COVID “LGAs of concern” by that stage, making it feel even more remote and dangerous to visit by the rest of the city. </p>
<p>The disproportionate impact of the Delta outbreak led a number of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/27/sydney-lockdown-if-were-all-in-this-together-lets-ditch-the-scapegoating">writers and journalists with connections to the west</a> to start raising their concerns. They were vocal about how Western Sydney was represented in the media, treated by the NSW government with harsher restrictions during lockdown, and the resilience and civic practices of many of its communities. </p>
<p>In a similar way, the writers and directors of Here out West are writing back to misrepresentations and negative perceptions of Western Sydney with this film. In an <a href="https://upcomingattractions.libsyn.com/09-interview-here-out-west-writers-vonne-patiag-and-bina-bhattacharya">interview following its theatrical release</a>, two of the writers, Vonne Patiag and Bina Bhattacharya talked about how there is a burgeoning artistic community in Western Sydney and it is finally getting some recognition through the film. Patiag noted, “the local aspect is key to storytelling by people of colour”.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444698/original/file-20220207-23-cum4sj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Scene from Here Out West chapter Closing Night.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Here Out West</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>The new second generation</h2>
<p>This narrative of taking things in their own hands, with a little help from the right mentors and funding agencies is not an isolated incident. </p>
<p>In Australia and in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/15/problem-with-apu-simpsons-hari-konabolu-documentary">comparable immigrant countries</a>, there is a growing population of young, second-generation migrants who have grown up with YouTube and Netflix. For these young people, watching year after year of national commercial television where they <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07256868.2020.1831457">don’t see themselves reflected</a> is no longer enough. </p>
<p>In the era of globally-accessible digital media, many creative practitioners from these communities are bypassing mainstream executives and institutions to find ways to create and showcase their own content, mostly on their own terms. Referred to as “<a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-au/The+Rise+of+the+New+Second+Generation-p-9780745684697">the new second generation</a>” in the US, they are claiming their agency and <a href="https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/creative-frictions">right to be represented as legitimate national subjects</a> in TV and film. </p>
<p>They are resorting to self-representation and advocacy after having been let down by practices and mindsets that persist in creative arts and media industries. These include typecasting actors from ethnic backgrounds in roles that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-with-apu-why-we-need-better-portrayals-of-people-of-colour-on-television-106707">stereotype their communities</a>, or only funding a certain number of “diverse” projects per cycle to <a href="https://diversityarts.org.au/app/uploads/Beyond-Tick-Boxes-PROGRAM.pdf">tick a box</a>. </p>
<p>Stories that centre marginalised subjects, however, still need to reach wide audiences to shift perceptions and policies. What remains to be seen is whether Here out West will also be part of a broader tide of change that includes these communities in future decision-making – in the arts and beyond it – instead of merely consulting with them when convenient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sukhmani Khorana received funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, 'Migration, Cultural Diversity and Television: Reflecting Modern Australia' (2016-2020).
Sukhmani Khorana has also worked on a community engagement project (2018-2019) with CuriousWorks, which is a sister company of Co-Curious.</span></em></p>Here Out West aims to shift the perception about what it means to tell contemporary Australian tales to a broad audience while staying true to the suburbs and communities of Western Sydney.Sukhmani Khorana, Senior Research Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754402022-01-25T19:02:36Z2022-01-25T19:02:36ZMakeshift screens, censored films and ASIO: how the Melbourne International Film Festival began 70 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442111/original/file-20220123-13-1a2u3hs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2295%2C3153&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the Australia Day weekend in 1952, a group of die-hard film buffs put on a film festival. They had selected the leafy hills of Olinda in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges for the event. They expected 80 people – but more than 600 turned up!</p>
<p>In the 1950s, very few Australian films were being made. Those that were produced were largely documentaries, with narrative features extremely rare. Despite this, an avid film culture flourished through local film societies. </p>
<p>Australian film buffs were thirsty to see international films from Europe and Asia, but local cinemas only screened Hollywood fare. Australian authorities would, however, allow international films to enter the country for exhibition at a film festival. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd outside a mechanic's institute." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442077/original/file-20220123-15-r37jwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">80 film fans were expected. More than 600 showed up.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So a festival in Melbourne was excitedly planned.</p>
<p>That first event, as ambitious as it was popular, is now celebrating its 70th anniversary. It grew into the internationally renowned Melbourne International Film Festival, which will commemorate its 70th anniversary in August this year, making it one of the world’s oldest film festivals.</p>
<h2>Sleeping in a church hall</h2>
<p>The Australian Council of Film Societies, who convened the festival, chose Olinda because it was a popular tourist destination with plenty of accommodation. </p>
<p>Due to the numbers of film buffs who flocked there, the guest houses were fully booked. Many locals threw open their doors to accommodate the influx, but it was not enough. </p>
<p>My mother was one of many who went along and had to bed down in a church hall.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd outside a country church." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442076/original/file-20220123-15-1ca9hcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The town accommodation was so booked up, some had to sleep in the church.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The appeal of the film festival was so great that some people travelled back and forth from Melbourne daily. </p>
<p>Among the attendees were many who would become prominent Australian filmmakers, like <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/film-director-tim-burstall-dies-20040419-gdirr2.html">Tim Burstall</a>, <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/filmmaker-john-heyer-went-to-the-back-of-beyond-to-put-real-australia-on-the-world-screen/news-story/5a08aece8a11d33ea300cecb455d1450">John Heyer</a> and <a href="https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/stanley-hawes-and-moral-responsibility-filmmakers">Stanley Hawes</a>.</p>
<p>Interviewed in the documentary Birth of a Film Festival, Burstall remembered making the journey to Olinda with artist Arthur Boyd. They packed their families into Boyd’s 1929 Dodge and headed for the hills. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man stands in front of a screen, talking to a crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442112/original/file-20220123-27-1wzbg6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of Australia’s future filmmakers attended the event.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The large attendance forced the organisers to arrange additional screening venues. They set up a makeshift screen under the stars, and borrowed another hall in a neighbouring town. </p>
<p>Frank Nicholls, who was president of the Australian Council of Film Societies, had to rush reels from the hall in Olinda to another in Sassafras by car, causing a delay mid-screening if he was late with the next reel.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1031&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1031&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442073/original/file-20220123-15-3vtwul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1031&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The festival was so popular, extra screens needed to be set up – including an outdoor cinema.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Organisers invited national and international luminaries including Australian filmmaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Chauvel_(filmmaker)">Charles Chauvel</a>. Although Chauvel did not attend, his telegram was included in the “programme alterations”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My best wishes to all and my regrets not being able to be present.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Prime Minister Robert Menzies was invited but in a letter to Nicholls (kept in a scrapbook by volunteer Mary Heintz), he delegated the invitation to the Minister for the Interior, Mr W.S. Kent Hughes.</p>
<p>Hughes presented the Juilee Awards for films made in Australia. He gave a speech outlining government plans to support documentary and independent producers, and stayed to watch the opening night under a canopy of stars.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-cinema-for-australia-day-71884">Australian cinema for Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The first film festival program</h2>
<p>Jean Cocteau’s famous 1946 film Beauty and the Beast opened the festival to great acclaim. Others screened included Robert J. Flaherty’s Louisiana Story (1948), as well as many Australian documentaries, clips from early Australian films, and some historic French short works by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s">Georges Méliès</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442075/original/file-20220123-21-ilv69b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An exhibition of film stills was set up at the local school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the local highlights was a film made for the Department of Immigration titled Mike and Stefani (1952), directed by Ron Maslyn Williams. It won a prize for its depiction of two war-broken refugees granted visas to come to Australia. </p>
<p>The festival weekend also included talks and an exhibition of film stills at the local school. </p>
<p>The press picked up on the vigorous debate swirling around the festival that weekend. On January 31, the Adelaide News reported attendees expressed dismay at censors banning films like Roberto Rossellini’s The Miracle (1948), which was deemed sacrilegious.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-movie-scenes-rome-open-city-fascism-tragedy-and-the-birth-of-italian-neo-realism-110771">The great movie scenes: Rome, Open City - fascism, tragedy and the birth of Italian neo-realism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Success – and suspicion</h2>
<p>The Olinda Film Festival was a huge success. </p>
<p>Nicholls described Olinda in The Sun of January 29 1952 as “the most comprehensive” film festival ever held in Australia, screening “hundreds of Continental, English, Australian and Oriential films and even a Russian propaganda production”. </p>
<p>But not everyone celebrated the festival’s success. Even with Menzies’ support, it was discovered after the event that, while cinema enthusiasts were enjoying the event, ASIO was watching. Evidently the Australian government regarded the film festival as a prime draw-card for subversive characters intent on overthrowing authority.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2968%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and a woman read a program" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2968%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442108/original/file-20220123-17-e7x3yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The festival screened hundreds of films from around the globe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still, the success of Olinda – far greater than anyone could have foreseen – earned the festival a permanent place in Australian and international screen culture. It demonstrated that non-commercial films could interest large audiences, and Australian films could do the same. </p>
<p>Nicholls went on to become the first chairperson of the Melbourne Film Festival and later of The Australian Film Institute. At the 50th celebration of the 1952 event, Nicholls said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The festival was a goer, and it’s still going strong. But there was never quite one like Olinda.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Material in this article was sourced in interviews and research for Birth of a Film Festival (directed by Mark Poole and produced by Lisa French in 2003), about the first festival and it’s 50th anniversary celebrations.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa French is the producer of the film mentioned in this article 'Birth of a Film Festival' 2003.</span></em></p>Held in the leafy hills of Olinda, organisers expected 80 people – but more than 800 showed up to watch Australian and international films.Lisa French, Professor & Dean, School of Media and Communication, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1728602021-11-30T04:32:28Z2021-11-30T04:32:28ZHis spirit will return to Country. Vale David Dalaithngu, the actor who shaped Australian cinema<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434637/original/file-20211130-28-wscy91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Terry Trewin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article includes names and images of people who have died.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>I opened #Blackfulla Twitter to find my feed awash with tributes to the life of David Dalaithngu and a deep shared sadness <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-29/david-dalaithngu-dies-aged-68/100660282">for his passing</a>. As I scrolled, I witnessed a wave of grief and mourning – but also a commemoration of his life and the absolute joy his performances brought. </p>
<p>A member of the Mandjalpingu clan, Dalaithngu was raised on Country in Ramingining Arnhem Land. For many, he was the first Indigenous person we saw on the television or big screen. </p>
<p>To lose him, at only 68 years old, we are reminded how fragile our existence is and how short our lives can be as Indigenous people.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1465459287736553478"}"></div></p>
<h2>A rich and varied career</h2>
<p>Growing up in the 1970s, seeing Indigenous people on the television was rare. I remember the first time I saw Dalaithngu in the film Walkabout (1971). The storyline was indicative of the era, and Dalaithngu’s name was misspelt in the credits. </p>
<p>Regardless, his performance was brilliant. </p>
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<p>He next played Billy in Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and Fingerbone Bill in Storm Boy (1976). He was lauded by his Storm Boy co-stars for his ability to perform <a href="https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/your-life-david-gulpilil-storm-boy">as if there were no cameras at all</a>. It would be fair to say for many non-Indigenous people during this era, in Australia and internationally, their only exposure to Indigenous culture was through his performances. </p>
<p>In 1977, he starred in The Last Wave. A sci-fi drama drawing on mysticism and the dichotomy of urban vs “tribal” identities, it is not a film without problems. But it sparked for me a love of sci-fi I still have today.</p>
<p>In 1986, Dalaithngu starred in Crocodile Dundee showing his comedy chops playing alongside Paul Hogan. </p>
<p>His sense of humour was second to none. He often mocked the stereotypes about who we are or who we are imagined to be by white folk.</p>
<p>His performance in Crocodile Dundee secured him as a household name across Australia, and, in 1987, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the arts.</p>
<h2>A political actor</h2>
<p>As Dalaithngu matured, so too did the Australian film industry. He increasingly took on weighty and political roles.</p>
<p>In 2002, he featured in <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1834346563581/mimi">Mimi</a>, from the then little-known director Warwick Thornton, poking fun at white art collectors who purchase Indigenous art for its investment potential.</p>
<p>Also in 2002, he starrted in Phillip Noyce’s Rabbit Proof-Fence and, in his first collaboration with Rolf de Heer, The Tracker, for which Dalaithngu won multiple acting awards.</p>
<p>Later, he starred in notable films including The Proposition (2005), Ten Canoes (2006) and Charlie’s Country (2014).</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BhOqrvCwOsU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Charlie’s Country, which Dalaithngu wrote with de Heer, captures the complexities of living in a settler society and the often violent and discriminatory policies and practices Indigenous people face here.</p>
<p>Set in Dalaithngu’s own Country in Ramingining, in one scene, Charlie and his bestie “Black Pete” (Peter Djigirr) kill a wild buffalo to eat. </p>
<p>They live without adequate finances to buy food from shops. This is a very real situation for many Indigenous communities in Australia. </p>
<p>The local policeman confiscates Charlie’s gun: it is not registered; he doesn’t have a license for hunting on his own Country. Charlie, who describes himself as a hunter, then makes himself a spear. The police also confiscate the spear, claiming it is a “dangerous weapon.”</p>
<p>For this performance, Dalaithngu won one of the world’s most prestigious acting awards, the Cannes Film Festival’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/25/cannes-best-actor-award-for-indigenous-actor-david-gulpilil">Un Certain Regard for Best Actor</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1465301684687540227"}"></div></p>
<h2>A true leader</h2>
<p>Dalaithngu paved the way for Indigenous actors in the industry, and was unforgettable. He was an actor who could not be constrained. Your eye was drawn him in every role he took on.</p>
<p>In 2019, in recognition of his contributions as an actor, and to the wider Indigenous screen industry, mob <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/actor-david-gulpilil-seriously-ill-with-lung-cancer-wins-naidoc-lifetime-achievement-award/news-story/08768da33d4f11d130987142eed44706">awarded him a NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award</a>. </p>
<p>Sadly he was too sick to attend so he recorded a message for us all. He said,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Never forget me. While I am here, I will never forget you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although incredibly sick, Dalaithngu wanted to make one more film, and he did. The documentary, <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-name-is-gulpilil-a-candid-gentle-portrait-of-one-of-australias-best-actors-160542">My name is G</a> (2020), is an intimate story of his own life. </p>
<p>He reflects on the end of his life and tells us, “my spirit will return back to my Country”. So it has. </p>
<p>From all of us mob, Vale Uncle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>David Dalaithngu has died at 68. When he appeared in the 1971 film Walkabout, his name was misspelt in the credits. He won international acclaim as an actor, becoming a household name.Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1689432021-10-04T19:06:05Z2021-10-04T19:06:05ZBeyond Oxbridge and Yale: popular stories bring universities to life — we need more of them in Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424364/original/file-20211004-13-4v0f3r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C23%2C988%2C692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gilmore Girls brought university life, including the student newspaper. to our screens.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dorothy Parker Drank Here ProductionsHofflund/PoloneWarner Bros. Television</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new campus novel suggests the story of the university in Australia might be almost in vogue, if only as a backdrop for big questions about navigating human failings and representations of truth, and the topical issue of sexual consent.</p>
<p>Diana Reid’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-new-campus-novel-taking-on-toxic-behaviour-drinking-games-and-sex-20210917-p58sn4.html">new campus novel</a>, Love and Virtue, is set in Sydney. Reid is a graduate of the University of Sydney, and the novel’s action takes place in a residential college, where the central character Michaela has a sexual encounter with a male student after a drunken night during O-Week. She must also navigate the politics of class and friendship in the way her experience is later appropriated and represented.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=910&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424368/original/file-20211004-17-15cl890.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
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<p>Australian readers and audiences have had meagre opportunities to examine the world of the university in novels, television or film, especially compared to North American examples, and British stories set at the Oxbridge universities, among others.</p>
<p>Rory Gilmore of the television series <a>Gilmore Girls</a> (2000-2007) dreamt of going to Harvard for her whole girlhood, ending up at Yale instead. Donna Tartt’s novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29044.The_Secret_History">The Secret History</a> (1992) is set at a small liberal arts college in Vermont, probably based on Tartt’s alma mater, Bennington College. Recently, Netflix series <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-netflix-drama-the-chair-is-honest-and-funny-but-it-still-romanticises-modern-university-life-166655">The Chair</a> had fun with the complexities of university administration.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-netflix-drama-the-chair-is-honest-and-funny-but-it-still-romanticises-modern-university-life-166655">New Netflix drama The Chair is honest and funny, but it still romanticises modern university life</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These narratives share the setting of the university campus as a place for self-discovery and freedom, but also as sites in which to negotiate power, sex and relationships. Some learning in lectures also features, along with libraries, often depicted as imposing structures with weighty traditions.</p>
<p>From the rarified contexts of elite US colleges to the dreaming spires of Evelyn Waugh’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014f32p">Brideshead Revisited</a> to sardonic depictions of academic life in the novels of British author David Lodge, stories about university life may seem plentiful. </p>
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<p>Yet unlike England and America, there are few such readily available “popular” cultural narratives set here. Works of fiction do exist, as academic Colin Symes noted in a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1356251042000252345">2004 article</a>. Symes cited Australian novels from the 1970s and 1980s such as Laurie Clancy’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The%20Wildlife%20reserve">The Wildlife Reserve</a>, a story about the post-Dawkins university that muses over the legacy of earlier academic administrators. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, two other university-themed novels were published: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3748521-no-safe-place?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=EeeVUzVV0x&rank=1">No Safe Place</a> by Mary-Rose MacColl and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12368949-academia-nuts?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=kxyZa0WWOS&rank=1">Academia Nuts</a> by retired Sydney academic Michael Wilding. </p>
<p>Arguably none of these books — forming a slim canon of campus novels — made a large impression on the popular idea of the university in Australia, even if they investigated interesting ideas about the changing nature of education and workplaces in these decades. </p>
<p>Yet this relative cultural silence about universities is despite their rich history as a catalyst for social change and the many thousands of experiences of graduates. </p>
<h2>Universities and social change</h2>
<p>In the 1970s, Australian universities were beginning to expand and open up to a wider range of students, including mature-age women and new generations of politically aware young people. The Australian “<a>idea of the university</a>” was formed in a “new wave” of institutions such as La Trobe, Deakin and Griffith, as Glyn Davis noted in his 2017 book of the same name.</p>
<p>Hopefulness about the value and purpose of tertiary education was palpable. Campuses were lively, and students sought debate, difference, dialogue. New areas of study were being framed, including critical humanities and social science fields. University education in Australia also benefited from the intellectual traditions and influences of the British model and the emerging style of North American institutions.</p>
<p>The public, then, perceived universities as useful. Their presence assured a society founded in intellectual achievement and personal growth as much as jobs and degrees.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australian-idea-of-a-university-17433">The Australian idea of a university</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian stories of the university</h2>
<p>There are some stories to draw on as we plot this larger picture of the university experience in Australia. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/31017/the-road-from-coorain-by-jill-ker-conway/">Jill Ker Conway’s memoir</a> The Road From Coorain is one minor exception. Conway, who grew up on a sheep farm in Coorain, New South Wales, studied at the University of Sydney before leaving Australia for university education in the US in 1960. She was later president of the famous <a href="https://www.smith.edu/about-smith">Smith College</a> for women.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424357/original/file-20211004-44484-1cxm618.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1164&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Cassandra Pybus’s book Gross Moral Turpitude (1993), though not a novel, featured a legal case around sexual misconduct at the University of Tasmania. In 1996, Helen Garner published The First Stone, her controversial interpretation of the sexual harassment case at the University of Melbourne’s Ormond College.</p>
<p>In a lighter vein, a film set at the University of Melbourne from the mid-1990s, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116931/">Love and Other Catastrophes</a>, featured the campus and starred Alice Garner (who later wrote a memoir <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5576976-the-student-chronicles">The Student Chronicles</a>). The Secret Life of Us also explored the lives of university graduates in Melbourne making their way in life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-turned-to-the-secret-life-of-us-for-warm-nostalgia-instead-i-found-jarring-memories-165970">I turned to The Secret Life of Us for warm nostalgia. Instead, I found jarring memories</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet the overwhelming lack of a collective memory of university education and the student experience in Australia now presents a serious problem in our social, cultural and political life.</p>
<p>Narratives about university found in both US and British contexts highlight questions of personal journeys into education and beyond, and rites of passage. They touch, too, on issues of inclusion and exclusion and campus culture.</p>
<p>In Australia, we have barely even imagined these spaces in public debate, much less celebrated or critiqued them. When it comes to thinking about the value, purpose and role of universities in public life, we are so far behind that we don’t even have a common language. </p>
<p>Talking about universities from the student, not staff, point of view, would be a good place to start as we reflect on generations of change in higher education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168943/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catharine Coleborne is affiliated with the Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Science and Humanities (DASSH), the peak body for university education in these fields in Australia and New Zealand.</span></em></p>The lack of a collective memory of university education and the student experience presents a serious problem in Australian life.Catharine Coleborne, Dean of Arts/Head of School Humanities and Social Science, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1645522021-08-23T05:03:33Z2021-08-23T05:03:33ZAboriginal art on a car? How an Indigenous artist and an adventurer met in the 1930 wet season in Kakadu<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413013/original/file-20210726-15-1nfbpkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C3492%2C2111&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adventurer Francis Birtles in his car with a man identified as Indigenous artist Nayombolmi.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149653944/view">National Library of Australia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of deceased people.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Histories of Indigenous Australia are filled with stories of cross-cultural encounters. Many of these were harsh and brutal, leaving inter-generational wounds that are still healing. Other encounters can be framed around mutual curiosity.</p>
<p>Our recent research just published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2021.1956336">History Australia</a> has illuminated one such story, a fascinating encounter between two Australian icons: adventurer <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/birtles-francis-edwin-5244">Francis Birtles</a> and prolific Aboriginal artist <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00293652.2020.1779802">Nayombolmi</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414704/original/file-20210805-23-10wpgzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Francis Birtles in Arnhem Land, late 1920s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An early celebrity</h2>
<p>Born in 1881, Birtles has been described as one of Australia’s first homegrown superstars. </p>
<p>In the early 1900s, he crossed the continent, first on bicycle and later by car. He presented his adventures in books featuring his own photographs and made movies, which were screened in major Australian towns. </p>
<p>A rugged explorer, he presented white Australians with a new understanding of the outback. Biographer <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/warren-brown/francis-birtles-australian-adventurer">Warren Brown</a> writes: “This young, fit, bronzed adventurer seemed to embody the excitement and optimism of a new country flourishing in a new century.”</p>
<p>Birtles’ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4670629.Francis_Birtles">books</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0083797/">movies</a> include many stories about encounters with Indigenous Australians. In the beginning he made use of a <a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p21521/pdf/ch055.pdf">colonial trope</a> that pictured them as “primitive savages”. Some of his works gave audiences the impression Birtles was escaping danger. Our new research presents another picture.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414706/original/file-20210805-27-oavq7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nayombolmi in 1966.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Lance Bennett. Copyright: Estate of Lance Bennett, courtesy of Barbara Spencer.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A skilled artist</h2>
<p>While Birtles is well known, few people know about Nayombolmi. In fact, the identification of him as the Aboriginal person posing on Birtles’ car in the discussed photography, has never been formally acknowledged until now. </p>
<p>Nayombolmi was born in today’s Kakadu National Park. He had a traditional upbringing and is remembered as a fully initiated man of “High Degree”. First and foremost though, Nayombolmi is known as a skilled artist. </p>
<p>One of his <a href="http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/set/2707">bark paintings</a> was included in the National Museum of Australia’s Old Masters exhibition in 2013.</p>
<p>He also created some of Australia’s most famous rock art, such as the <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/do/walks/nourlangie-rock-walk/">Anbangbang shelter</a> in the Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) area in Kakadu. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="rock art" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414707/original/file-20210805-13-2xfmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Angbangbang shelter with some of Nayombolmi’s many artworks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Jalandoni</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-dads-painting-is-hiding-in-secret-place-how-aboriginal-rock-art-can-live-on-even-when-gone-157315">'Our dad's painting is hiding, in secret place': how Aboriginal rock art can live on even when gone</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A very long drive</h2>
<p>The two men met during the wet season of 1929–1930 in today’s Kakadu. </p>
<p>Birtles had just returned from an adventure that made him the first person to drive a car from London to Melbourne — his famous <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2201643850163522">“Sundowner”</a> Bean Car, now on display at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.</p>
<p>After a well-earned rest, he took off for Arnhem Land together with his dog Yowie in a brand new Bean car. Having lost his savings in the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash, he went bush to try to find gold. As explained in his 1935 memoirs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One day in an undulating ridge I found that which I had spent months seeking — gold. […] I worked there during the whole of the wet season, from October to April. From a party of blacks, travelling through that part of the country, I obtained some tea, [giving] them some tobacco in exchange. It was a lonely camp. […] The little tribe, passing through on a pilgrimage from one hunting-ground to another, were the only human beings I saw during the months I was there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our new research about known rock art artists in Kakadu has shown that the “pilgrims” included Nayombolmi and his closest kin. From Birtles’ photographs the encounter appears to have been a relaxed one.</p>
<p>One photograph shows Birtles having tea with Yowie. Aboriginal spears are placed on the side of Birtles’ car and a dead wallaby on its bonnet. On the rear of the car are unmistakable Aboriginal paintings that seem to have been there for some time. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="black and white photo of outback camp" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414719/original/file-20210805-13-gjudtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Birtles has tea with his dog Yowie. Traditional Aboriginal spears hang on his car and a dead wallaby is draped over the bonnet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another photograph shows the owner of the spears. An Aboriginal man with scarification across his chest holding a recent kill — a bush turkey. He has a pipe in his mouth. </p>
<p>In the background, another Aboriginal man we believe to be Nayombolmi sits on the rear of the car. The photographs seem to confirm Birtles’ account of the exchange of tea and tobacco.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="black and white photo of figures in outback" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414720/original/file-20210805-15-1bpzep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Birtles’ car with the spears, Yowie and two of the ‘pilgrims;’ the one to the right we believe is Nayombolmi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Birtles/National Library Australia</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Car as canvas</h2>
<p>The most fascinating photograph (the lead image above) shows <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03122417.2018.1543095">Birtles’ car</a> decorated with 19 traditional Aboriginal rock art images depicting an emu, a fresh water crocodile, two long-necked turtles, a saratoga (fish), a hand-and-arm stencil and 14 dancing and crawling human-like figures. </p>
<p>On the rear end of the car, Nayombolmi sits on a dead kangaroo holding a dog in his lap. Birtles sits in the driver’s seat holding a live magpie goose. </p>
<p>The identification of Nayombolmi — sometimes described as the most prolific known rock art artist in the world — was recorded by Dan Gillespie in the early 1980s during oral history with Nayombolmi’s kin brother, George Namingum. </p>
<p>Shown the photograph of the painted car, Namingum identified Nayombolmi as the artist. He declared: “Oh yeah. That’s my brother” and added that Nayombolmi “used to painting everything”. </p>
<p>The identification has since been confirmed by Nayombolmi’s closest kin, who knew him when they were young. </p>
<p>After the unexpected encounters between Nayombolmi and Birtles, a gold mine known as Arnhem Land Gold Development Company – No Liability was established through Birtles’ agency. Nayombolmi, his family and other local Aboriginal people worked at the mine — though were paid with food, tobacco and alcohol rather than cash. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/introducing-the-maliwawa-figures-a-previously-undescribed-rock-art-style-found-in-western-arnhem-land-145535">Introducing the Maliwawa Figures: a previously undescribed rock art style found in Western Arnhem Land</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Birtles quickly sold his mine shares and became rich, allowing him to possess things he “always wanted”; as he wrote later: “The sort of things a man of my tastes dreams of owning when he hasn’t a cracker”. </p>
<p>Nayombolmi and his kin — despite the friendly encounter captured on film, decorating Birtle’s car, and the fact they were instrumental to the mining operations — were left with nothing.</p>
<p>We do not know what happened to the car that Nayombolmi painted. The photographs are all that remain. </p>
<p><em>Our research has been undertaken in close collaboration with Djok Senior Traditional Owner Jeffrey Lee and Parks Australia (Kakadu).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164552/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joakim Goldhahn received founding from the Australian Research Council and Rock Art Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul S.C.Taçon receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally K. May receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>One was a celebrity adventurer, the other was a skilled Indigenous artist who painted everything in sight. A new look at old photographs confirms their meeting.Joakim Goldhahn, Rock Art Australia Ian Potter Kimberley Chair, The University of Western AustraliaPaul S.C.Taçon, Chair in Rock Art Research and Director of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU), Griffith UniversitySally K. May, Senior Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658702021-08-16T19:52:21Z2021-08-16T19:52:21ZAblaze review: a powerful, personal portrait of Aboriginal activist and filmmaker Bill Onus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416224/original/file-20210816-19-1oztpl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1006%2C563&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Review: Ablaze, directed by Alec Morgan and Tiriki Onus</em> </p>
<p>Opera singer Tiriki Onus comes across a dusty, aged suitcase stowed away in the basement. It belonged to his grandfather, Bill Onus, and contains lots of still images — including young men painted up for Corroboree. Not long after, a reel of film surfaces from another archive. It has no notation or audio, but is believed to be linked to Bill Onus. </p>
<p>Tiriki’s interest is sparked, and he begins a quest to better understand his grandfather’s life: a man who had passed before he was born, but who loomed large.</p>
<p>The film Ablaze, directed by Tiriki with Alec Morgan, is the culmination of Tiriki’s quest to understand the history of the lost footage, the contents of this suitcase archive, and the grandfather he never knew.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Old black and white photo. A man and a child hold signs reading 'vote yes for Aboriginal rights.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416227/original/file-20210816-25-ytupz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bill Onus was a strong campaigner for Aboriginal rights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Born in 1906, Bill Onus was a civil rights activist, artist, performer and entrepreneur. He was a leading figure in his Yorta Yorta and Cummeragunja community and later at the Aboriginal epicentre of Fitzroy, Melbourne, where he lived as an adult. </p>
<p>As a child, Onus and his people in south eastern Australia experienced the escalating power of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/capturing-the-lived-history-of-the-aborigines-protection-board-while-we-still-can-46259">NSW Aborigines Protection Board</a> to control everyday lives and movement. Having your children removed was a constant threat. Exercising culture was prohibited. The government appointed mission managers exercised their power in cruel and inhumane ways, withholding food and quashing any objections with violence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/capturing-the-lived-history-of-the-aborigines-protection-board-while-we-still-can-46259">Capturing the lived history of the Aborigines Protection Board while we still can</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As an adult, Onus was inspired by the <a href="https://www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-coastal/joe-anderson-%E2%80%98king-burraga%E2%80%99">1933 recording of Joe Anderson</a> (King Burraga) speaking back to this authority, and he would speak out himself through film, photography and theatre. </p>
<p>Across his lifetime, he created a platform for many Aboriginal artists, directed plays and curated extravagant shows to tell the stories of Aboriginal lives and culture, military service and survival.</p>
<p>In a nation blighted by incomprehension of Aboriginal rights, Onus’ storytelling attempted to bring to wider attention the plight of his people and the call for equality.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wHD4Ji5WuDM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Film and advocacy</h2>
<p>From a young age, Onus combined his advocacy for Aboriginal rights and passion for film. </p>
<p>In the 1930s, he was invited to work on Charles Chauvel’s <a href="https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/uncivilised/notes/">Uncivilised</a> (1936), a cliche-ridden, Tarzan-inspired “white chief among the dangerous savages” story. </p>
<p>In the 1940s he worked — this time with an apparently enhanced advisory role — on Harry Watt’s <a href="https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/the-overlanders/notes/">The Overlanders</a> (1946), a feature film about drovers driving a large herd of cattle some 2,500 kilometres across northern Australia. </p>
<p>Working on these films exposed Onus to poverty, violence and wage labour exploitation on pastoral stations beyond the south east.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Onus prepares to throw a Boomerang." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416228/original/file-20210816-59076-1glzuy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Working on films and as an entertainer – including his champion Boomerang skills – Onus travelled across Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both Onus’ own experiences and his observations from the north fuelled his fight for Aboriginal equality and the desire to make films of his own. </p>
<p>As Ablaze shows, these ambitions were achieved in his documentary of the stage production White Justice in 1946. Performed at Melbourne’s New Theatre in conjunction with the Australian Aborigines league, White Justice referenced the Aboriginal strike in the Pilbara at that time. </p>
<p>This strike, over a vast territory of pastoral lands, saw Aboriginal workers seek independence from oppression and tyranny at the hands of the pastoralists. The now familiar images of chained Aboriginal men come from this time, a punishment in retaliation for their insubordination.</p>
<p>The family believes he made many more films, but they were all lost in a fire in the 1950s. Tiriki Onus’ discovery of the lost footage, including footage of the stage play, of returned Aboriginal servicemen and of Onus’ boomerang throwing prowess, finally gives an insight into the stories Bill Onus wanted to tell. </p>
<h2>Change through stories</h2>
<p>In Ablaze, Tiriki Onus interviews family, film historians and community leaders to understand his grandfather and the contents of the lost footage. He combines Bill Onus’ footage with other archival sources, including the expansive and now very useful files from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).</p>
<p>Ablaze is a very personal journal, as Tiriki works to better understand what shaped his grandfather’s life and how his grandfather shaped him.</p>
<p>The lost footage takes us on a biographical journey that stretches out across a range of themes now familiar in the Aboriginal civil rights movement. One of the more interesting themes to emerge is Bill Onus’ comprehension of performance: how grand shows were necessary to achieve political change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tiriki stands in an open desert, wearing a cloak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416229/original/file-20210816-22-1hpuzpc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tiriki Onus is now following in his grandfather’s footsteps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MIFF</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like his grandson, Bill Onus knew storytelling: on film, the stage and in lavish theatre halls. He knew stories could be used as a vehicle for change and reach wide audiences. </p>
<p>Onus’ films never screened nor reached those wider audiences; the stage shows never toured nationally or internationally. But the power of First Nations film and extraordinary creative practice today finds rich lineage in his now revealed work. </p>
<p><em>Ablaze is <a href="https://miff.com.au/program/film/ablaze">streaming</a> at MIFF now.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heidi Norman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bill Onus was a civil rights activist, artist, performer and entrepreneur. A new documentary from his grandson shares his remarkable story.Heidi Norman, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1628612021-06-28T03:07:35Z2021-06-28T03:07:35ZInternational franchises love filming in ‘Aussiewood’ — but the local industry is booming too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408327/original/file-20210625-13-1iwc9c0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C3976%2C2413&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Dry/Roadshow Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian screen industry is booming. </p>
<p>Russell Crowe recently announced his support for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jun/16/russell-crowe-backs-400m-film-studio-for-coffs-harbour-pacific-bay-resort-studios-and-village">A$438 million film studio</a> — complete with accommodation — in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. </p>
<p>In the lead up to the state election, the Western Australian government announced their own <a href="https://www.if.com.au/wa-government-promises-studio-and-20-million-production-attraction-fund/">$100 million film studio</a> to be located in Fremantle. </p>
<p>This would be the first film studio in the state, and is intended to compete for Hollywood productions with existing major studios in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. </p>
<p>These existing studios have all been fully booked for some time, and film production in Australia shows no sign of slowing down. With effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic and government production incentives, Australian studios are an attractive location. </p>
<p>Indeed, global juggernaut Marvel Studios has relocated its productions to Sydney for the “<a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/marvel-movies-set-to-be-filmed-in-sydney-for-the-foreseeable-future/news-story/7c2f76c57ca3cc109185a2a3892cfe87">foreseeable future</a>”.</p>
<p>It may seem the current boom is led by the strong growth of “Aussiewood”, or locally-filmed international productions. But more than 80% of the productions currently being made in Australia are Australian.</p>
<h2>The rise of Australian cinema</h2>
<p>Arts policy expert Jo Caust <a href="https://theconversation.com/400-million-in-government-funding-for-hollywood-but-only-scraps-for-australian-film-142979">has cautioned</a> that, while the government’s $400 million production incentive is predicted to attract billions in foreign expenditure and create thousands of jobs, it is a fund for foreign filmmakers, not for Australian films. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/400-million-in-government-funding-for-hollywood-but-only-scraps-for-australian-film-142979">$400 million in government funding for Hollywood, but only scraps for Australian film</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There are currently <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/upcoming-productions/">more than 90</a> screen projects in pre-production, production or post-production in Australia. </p>
<p>These include international television productions, like Amazon’s Nine Perfect Strangers and blockbuster films like Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder. But more than 80% of current productions are Australian: films where the intellectual property is owned, or jointly owned, and controlled by an Australian production company.</p>
<p>And those Australian productions are increasingly focused on quirky, popular films, telling local stories in new ways.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f8tofjqqrV8?wmode=transparent&start=10" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A trailer for 2020 Australian sci-fi film, Occupation Rainfall.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, Australian cinema was dominated by movies emphasising the representation of our cultural identity: Australia’s stories, history, characters and the unique landscape. </p>
<p>Government-funded Australian films were typically informed by a <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/52046/">national identity agenda</a>, which emphasised cultural prestige and middle-class respectability over commercialism or pure entertainment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="My Brilliant Career screenshot" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian New Wave films, like My Brilliant Career, were interested in representation of cultural identity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The films of the 1970s and 1980s’ “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41958833">New Wave</a>” are some of our most iconic. Think Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), My Brilliant Career (1979) and Breaker Morant (1980). </p>
<p>During this period, popular genres were often dismissed by the local industry and screen funders. Action, gangster films, fantasy, horror and science-fiction films were viewed as “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/202956/">too American</a>”. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, Australian cinema was dominated by art films, dramas and comedies. Many of these films followed quirky characters — think Muriel’s Wedding (1994) or Shine (1996) — that were difficult to compare to US films of the same period.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Muriel's Wedding screenshot" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian films of the 1990s, like Muriel’s Wedding, were unlike anything coming out of Hollywood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These trends of both the New Wave and the 1990s reflected attempts by government funding agencies to prioritise “Australian” content in a global and national market dominated by Hollywood. </p>
<p>But since the 2008 founding of Screen Australia and its explicit remit to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/last-chance-to-see-20091129-ge87fg.html">prioritise audiences and commercial filmmaking</a>, we are seeing a much <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/production-trends/feature-production/australian-feature-films/genres-produced">broader range</a> of films being made.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/netflix-is-opening-its-first-australian-hq-what-does-this-mean-for-the-local-screen-industry-118903">Netflix is opening its first Australian HQ. What does this mean for the local screen industry?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the last decade, we have seen action films like Occupation Rainfall (2020), musicals like The Sapphires (2012), Westerns like Mystery Road (2013), horror films like The Babadook (2014) and sci-fi films like I Am Mother (2019).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5BKctcZxrM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>And audiences are also responding to these popular genre films: crime drama The Dry (2021) made <a href="https://www.flicks.com.au/news/record-breaking-australian-film-the-dry-reaches-a-fantastic-20-million-at-the-box-office/">over $20 million</a> at the local box-office.</p>
<p>There are no signs that demand for Australian films is slowing down: the Mad Max prequel, Furiosa, is “<a href="https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/news/mad-max-prequel-furiosa-to-be-filmed-in-nsw-2/">expected to become the biggest film ever to be made in Australia</a>”, with filming scheduled to begin next year. </p>
<h2>Traversing the pandemic</h2>
<p>The boom in both international and local productions, however, creates competition for scarce resources.</p>
<p>Large film productions typically need studio space, but the major studios have been solidly booked for some time. The new proposals in Coffs Harbour and Fremantle will go some way to remedy these issues, but there are associated issues, such as the limited pool of film crews for the increasing number of productions.</p>
<p>It is also a tricky time for the industry to forward plan.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7X7KkP68RZE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>While Australia could be expected to maintain its pull as an attractive production destination because of world-class facilities, locations and competitive financial incentives, the pandemic-advantage is dissipating. </p>
<p>After being an early leader in COVID management, Australia’s vaccine rollout now lags woefully behind the United States. How long will Hollywood studios continue to privilege Australia? </p>
<p>An increasing focus on popular films also raises potential issues for the local industry. Many of these films require substantial special effects and large crews, so remain considerably more expensive to produce. </p>
<p>In order to continue this boom time, Australian film makers must be supported to sustain production and supported in accessing larger international markets, to justify these additional expenses. </p>
<p>These are arguably good problems to have, but they are ones we’ll need to address if the current upswings in both Aussiewood and Australian popular films are to continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark David Ryan has in the past received Australian Research Council funding to research Australian screen media and Australian Film Institute Research Collection funding to research Australian horror movies in 2018. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly McWilliam has received past Australian Research Council funding to research screen media.</span></em></p>Studios like Marvel may be grabbing the headlines — but it is also an exciting time for Australian stories on screen.Mark David Ryan, Associate Professor Film, Screen, Animation, Queensland University of TechnologyKelly McWilliam, Associate Professor of Communication and Media, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1618082021-06-14T20:06:51Z2021-06-14T20:06:51ZNew documentary recalls how Valerie Taylor played with sharks to prove a point<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405811/original/file-20210611-10377-1w8qehx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C19%2C3221%2C2196&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Review: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11226258/">Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story,</a> directed by Sally Aitken</em> </p>
<p>A new documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11226258/">Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story</a> shines a light on <a href="https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/trailblazers/ron-and-valerie-taylor/">Valerie Taylor AM</a>, a pioneering ocean explorer.</p>
<p>With flashbacks, interviews and expert commentary it reveals her extraordinary underwater life and transition from champion spearfisher to passionate marine conservationist.</p>
<p>As a marine biologist, I’m aware of the environmental crisis our oceans are facing, and the importance of sharks to the ocean ecosystem. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘I would slide into the water, into another world.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A bad reputation</h2>
<p>Increasing numbers of <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/shark-attack">shark encounters</a> around the world have people feeling more on edge and less like a swim.</p>
<p>In 2020, there were eight fatal shark bites <a href="https://taronga.org.au/conservation-and-science/australian-shark-attack-file">recorded in Australia</a> from 26 reported incidents. This was slightly higher than the 23 recorded in 2019 (with no fatalities). So far this year, there have been ten incidents with one death. This increase <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/Fulltext/mf10181">can be explained</a> by changes in shark population size, human behaviour and reporting methods. </p>
<p>While these statistics are undoubtedly awful, it is important to recognise the role the media plays in shaping people’s perceptions. </p>
<p>Sharks have gained a bad reputation as “cold-blooded killing machines”, yet there is a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/shark-versus-cow-deadlier/story?id=24931705">higher chance</a> of being killed by cows, motor vehicles, dogs and even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/dec/07/things-likely-kill-than-shark">vending machines</a>. <a href="https://www.natgeotv.com/ca/human-shark-bait/facts">National Geographic</a> estimates you have a one in 218 chance of dying from a fall but a one in 3.7 million chance of being killed by a shark.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman with huge shark model" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405812/original/file-20210611-28-1mugeqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Valerie and a ‘friend’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fatal-shark-attacks-are-at-a-record-high-deterrent-devices-can-help-but-some-may-be-nothing-but-snake-oil-150845">Fatal shark attacks are at a record high. 'Deterrent' devices can help, but some may be nothing but snake oil</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Making friends</h2>
<p>This film is about changing attitudes. The title itself is a nod to the positive association Valerie Taylor enjoys with sharks, who she regularly refers to as her “friends”. But it wasn’t always that way for the Sydney-born diver who left school at 15 to draw animations and started diving in the 1950s. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rEr-VrjbRsA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A yellow-suited Valerie stars in a 1960s diving film at Heron Island.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1974, Valerie and her late husband Ron were excited to film underwater shark sequences for Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Jaws</a>. </p>
<p>With its suspenseful score and blood in the water, the film terrified audiences. But in this film Valerie shares the couple’s pain when they realised they’d contributed to damaging the sharks’ image. She says a spike in public fear led to reckless shark culls.</p>
<p>“I only ever killed one shark,” Valerie says, recalling her spearfishing days. “I wish I hadn’t.”</p>
<p>Valerie and Ron vowed from that moment on to only shoot sharks with their cameras.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="man films woman on boat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405814/original/file-20210611-27-1v86ttf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Valerie and Ron Taylor were later recognised for their conservation efforts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-meg-is-a-horror-story-but-our-treatment-of-sharks-is-scarier-100886">Friday essay: The Meg is a horror story but our treatment of sharks is scarier</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The perfect animal</h2>
<p>Valerie and Ron’s journey from spearfishers to conservationists highlights their role in a broader transition from fear to admiration for these complex, majestic creatures. </p>
<p>“Nature made the perfect animal,” Valerie marvels in the film. “That wonder has never gone away.”</p>
<p>Valerie and Ron used cinematography to balance the reality of shark behaviour with the Hollywood horror narrative (they were later made Members of the Order of Australia for their conservation efforts). </p>
<p>Footage in the documentary of Valerie underwater with sharks accurately shows the interactions between humans and sharks. The message is that sharks don’t see humans as food.</p>
<p>To prove her point, Valerie dons a chain mail suit and puts her arm in a shark’s mouth. Archival footage shows her using fish bait to lure the shark towards her, before moving her forearm into its jaws. “The sharks don’t have crush power,” she says. “This is a misconception”. </p>
<p>She’s correct. Sharks <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/how-powerful-is-a-great-white-sharks-jaw/">use their sharp teeth</a> to slice flesh and head-shaking to rip off chunks, so they don’t need to rely on biting down. In fact, the bite force quotient (which compares bite force to body mass) is higher for a Tasmanian devil than for a Great White Shark.</p>
<p>In another clip, Valerie coaches a Whitetip Reef Shark to swim over pink coral for a photograph. Delightedly she announces, “They learn faster than you can teach a dog”. Based on my own diving experiences with sharks I would agree they show aptitude for intelligent, learned behaviour.</p>
<p>Sharks play a critical role in healthy ocean ecosystems because they are a top predator, keeping potentially destructive fish populations at a healthy level and preventing algae overgrowth that advances the decline of coral reefs. Tiger Sharks, for example, have <a href="https://saveourseas.com/why-are-sharks-important/">been shown</a> to prevent green turtles from overgrazing seagrass beds.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AhOdGXGxjjg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘You get a feeling about an animal. I can’t explain it. It comes from inside.’</span></figcaption>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tide-turned-surveys-show-the-public-has-lost-its-appetite-for-shark-culls-89163">Tide turned: surveys show the public has lost its appetite for shark culls</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<h2>A woman underwater</h2>
<p>Like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9005244/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Girls Can’t Surf</a> before it, Playing with Sharks explores gender imbalances. The viewer gets to see how Valerie created her own deeply-rewarding adventure story in a male-dominated world, from hand-feeding a Great White from the back of a boat to untangling one caught in wire with her bare hands in waist-deep water. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="blonde woman in bright scuba suit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405813/original/file-20210611-19-11397tl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A woman in a male-dominated field, Valerie fought to be taken seriously.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madman Entertainment</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tiny and blonde, she fought to be taken seriously, even at the top of her game with a spear in her hand. The film pays tribute to Ron’s appreciation of her fearlessness and love for the ocean. “She was aggressive, not one of those wimpish women”, he recalls of their meeting, nicknaming her: Give-it-a-go Valerie.</p>
<p>This visually stunning documentary interweaves historical footage with insights from diving legends, scientists and Valerie herself to highlight the power of passion to challenge ideas. </p>
<p>This film is an accessible and inspiring documentary. If viewers watch curiously with even a fraction of Valerie’s sense of adventure then they will have taken part in her mission.</p>
<p><em>Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks <a href="https://www.flicks.com.au/movie/playing-with-sharks/">screens</a> nationally 17–20 June.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Gardner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From working on Jaws to putting herself in danger, Valerie Taylor vowed to change public attitudes to sharks. A new film dives deeply into her underwater life.Stephanie Gardner, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1594412021-04-27T20:04:55Z2021-04-27T20:04:55ZOur enduring love of Mad Max’s Australian outback: an anarchic wasteland of sado-masochistic punk villains and ocker clowns<p>The fifth film in the Mad Max action franchise, Furiosa, has been <a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/george-miller-furiosa-receives-incentives-for-australia-shoot-1234954435/">greenlit for production</a> and will reach theatres in June 2023. Like the critically acclaimed <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Fury Road</a> (2015), Furiosa will blend Australian and international talent and funding, and is anticipated to be the largest film ever produced in New South Wales. </p>
<p>A cinematic success story, the Mad Max franchise also presents something of a challenge. Since the 1970s, Australian cinema has been dominated by a national identity agenda, while the action genre has always been more about entertainment than identity; more about commerce than culture. </p>
<p>Indeed, in 2016, when David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz reviewed the best Australian productions of the previous year, Stratton questioned whether Fury Road could even “count” <a href="https://www.if.com.au/david-and-margaret-reunite-to-talk-the-best-and-worst-aussie-movies-of-2016/">as an Australian film</a>. </p>
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<p>But action is an important part of Australia’s cinematic origin story. Charles Tait’s sensational 1906 bushranger film, <a href="https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/story-kelly-gang">The Story of the Kelly Gang</a>, believed to be the world’s first feature length production, is also a notable forerunner of the action genre.</p>
<p>George Miller — the creator, writer and director of the Mad Max franchise — describes the spectacular entertainment delivered by the action film as “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/are-we-about-to-see-the-first-mad-max-movie-without-mad-max-20210422-p57lhj.html">elemental</a>”. For Miller, action is cinema and has been since the silent era. </p>
<h2>Giving action an Australian accent</h2>
<p>The action film is commonly regarded as the “other” of national cinema, thanks to its limited interest in developing complex characters and narratives. Nevertheless, the Mad Max franchise gave action an Australian accent — even if that accent was <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/alternateversions">inexplicably overdubbed</a> by the US distributor that introduced Americans to Mad Max.</p>
<p>Miller’s 1979 <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/">Mad Max</a> stands out from the Australian genre films of the 1970s and 1980s now commonly referred to as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozploitation">Ozploitation</a>”. </p>
<p>Like other Ozploitation films, Mad Max was the product of low budget guerrilla style film-making. Where it differed was in its quality and the level of success achieved in overseas markets.</p>
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<p>In a decade filled with <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/mad-max-1970s-movie-car-chases">car chases and crashes</a>, Mad Max stood out in the international market for the inventiveness of its spectacular vehicular mayhem, ultimately <a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Mad-Max#tab=summary">grossing almost 500 times its budget of $200,000</a> in the worldwide box office. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082694/?ref_=nm_knf_t2">Mad Max 2</a> (1981) made the most of its much larger budget effectively inventing, as academic Adrian Martin points out, <a href="http://www.filmcritic.com.au/reviews/m/mad_max_2.html">the post-apocalyptic genre of action cinema</a>. </p>
<p>Mad Max 2 set the tone for the rest of the franchise. Here, Miller reimagined the Australian outback as an anarchic wasteland populated by sado-masochistic punk villains and ocker clowns. Max is no longer the ex-cop seeking revenge, but instead a solitary survivor, reluctantly turned hero.</p>
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<p>The story of reluctant heroism continues to be retold throughout the Mad Max films. In <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089530/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_24">Beyond Thunderdome</a> (1985) Max is once again transformed into a figure of myth, after helping a group of feral children escape the post-apocalyptic desert. In Fury Road, Max starts the film strapped to the front of a car as a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-12/every-killer-car-in-mad-max-fury-road-explained">human-hood-ornament-cum-blood-bag</a>, and ends once again as something like a hero, after ferrying wise and fertile women to where new life might grow.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stanza-and-deliver-the-filmic-poetry-of-mad-max-fury-road-42750">Stanza and deliver – the filmic poetry of Mad Max: Fury Road</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>In each, there is an echo of those Australian bushranger films whose anti-heroic protagonists are forced to violence by circumstance. And sometime become mythic heroes in the process. </p>
<p>But more importantly, the franchise continues to explore the visceral pleasures and possibilities of action, in the midst of social and natural threats.</p>
<h2>Action as a global genre</h2>
<p>Furiosa will be a prequel to Fury Road. Miller has described Fury Road as “almost a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jul/28/comic-con-2014-mad-max-fury-road-trailer-release-tom-hardy">western on wheels</a>”, harking back to one of the most popular genres of the silent era: <a href="https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-chase-films">the chase film</a>. </p>
<p>Its visual shocks and surprises are delivered primarily through elaborate stunt work, a signature element in the Mad Max franchise — and Australian action more generally. </p>
<p>Action films centre on the spectacle of bodies in motion. With stories often simplified to clashes of good versus evil, they works to surprise and shock with death-defying feats and scenes of violent destruction. </p>
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<p>Consequently, what Sight and Sound critic Larry Gross has dubbed “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/65639/8/2014-01-02_Prepublication_draft_Goldsmith_Action_and_Adventure_essay.pdf">the Big Loud Action Movie</a>” can break through barriers of language and culture. </p>
<p>Focused on visual spectacle, the action genre is well suited to those multimedia marketing campaigns crucial to blockbuster films’ success. Looking at a list of all time top grossing films worldwide, we see that <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?area=XWW">the action genre outperforms any other single film genre</a> at the box office, accounting for seven titles in the top 10.</p>
<h2>Outward looking cinema</h2>
<p>Since the mid-2000s, there has been a move toward an increasingly commercial and explicitly outward looking Australian cinema. The result has been a boom in Australian genre film making <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Australian-Genre-Film/McWilliam-Ryan/p/book/9781138603141">distinguished</a> by a focus on higher budgets and transnational productions, <a href="https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/18460516">such as</a> Stuart Beattie’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418377/">I, Frankenstein</a> (2014) and Gary McKendry’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1448755/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Killer Elite</a> (2011).</p>
<p>There were three decades between the release of Beyond Thunderdome and Fury Road. This 2015 reboot became an important milestone Australian cinema’s “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1386/sac.4.3.199_1?journalCode=rsau20">international turn</a>”. These films, and the Mad Max franchise more generally, offer a distinctively Australian take on the action genre.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-mad-maxs-six-oscars-mean-for-the-australian-film-industry-55564">What do Mad Max's six Oscars mean for the Australian film industry?</a>
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<p>In 2018, Fury Road topped a list of the <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/movies/2018/07/24/best-australian-films-list/">best Australian films of the 21st century</a> chosen by critics, including Stratton — who once questioned if it was Australian at all.</p>
<p>The fifth film, Furiosa promises to be yet another action blockbuster extravaganza of the sort that dominates the box office worldwide. Shifting the franchise focus from reluctant hero Max to the renegade Furiosa, it will continue a widespread trend toward putting more female action heroes on screen. </p>
<p>And whatever else Furiosa may be, we can count on being spectacularly entertained.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Howell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Mad Max franchise offers a distinctively Australian take on the action genre. And the fifth film, Furiosa, promises to be yet another extravaganzaAmanda Howell, Senior Lecturer, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1591242021-04-25T20:05:31Z2021-04-25T20:05:31Z‘She beams goodness and light’: Rosemary’s Way is about a hero transforming the lives of migrant and refugee women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396672/original/file-20210422-21-8rdctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=163%2C0%2C1692%2C951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan Force</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Film review: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12747500/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Rosemary’s Way</a>, directed by Ros Horin.</em></p>
<p>I love finding myself new heroes. Rosemary Kariuki is an extraordinary change-maker and leader I have recently added to my list. As the 2021 recipient of the <a href="https://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/rosemary-kariuki/2349/">Australian of the Year Local Hero award</a> she has been recognised for her strong advocacy and community building among migrant and refugee women in suburban Sydney. </p>
<p>A new film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12747500/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Rosemary’s Way</a>, celebrates her work as a charismatic community worker who has transformed the lives of thousands of women dealing with disconnection, domestic violence and trauma. </p>
<p>The film starts at Rosemary’s house, and in a “typical” African fashion, there is singing, dancing and food. Rosemary uses these familiar cultural symbols to build friendships and trust within members of the migrant communities she works with. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘She’s the mum of everybody!’</span></figcaption>
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<h2>From isolation to connection</h2>
<p>Rosemary arrived in Australia in 1999, after escaping tribal clashes in Kenya following a disputed election. The challenges she experienced as a new migrant were a springboard towards her passion to support others who arrived after her. </p>
<p>Rosemary’s various community programs are aimed to reduce the sense of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/social-isolation-and-loneliness">loneliness and isolation</a> which have been cited as some of the biggest factors <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.12856">affecting people from migrant and refugee backgrounds</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>Rosemary’s programs bring together migrants and refugees from European, Middle Eastern, South American, African and Asian backgrounds. “She’s the mum of everybody!” laughs one woman in the film. Rosemary affirms she is “a great believer in different cultures coming together,” to share what’s common among them rather than what is different.</p>
<p>One program she organises is the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drawingroom/rosemarys-mission-to-save-one-woman-at-a-time/12403738">cultural exchange program</a>. In the film we see Rosemary lead a group of migrant and refugee women to country towns in New South Wales where they are hosted by welcoming “local Aussies”. It’s an opportunity to “get out of the house”. </p>
<p>One woman reflects on her experience with the host family as being the “most generous anyone had been to her since she arrived in Australia”. Another says she “felt like a celebrity” when the host family brought her “tea on the veranda everyday, because they knew I was a bit depressed”. </p>
<p>Such small acts of kindness are experienced as symbols of acceptance. These moments of connection help build relationships that humanise migrants and refugees and foster strong bonds, promoting a sense of well-being and belonging. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Group of diverse people happily posing for photo together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396450/original/file-20210422-13-1m7w3fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rosemary brings together people from disparate backgrounds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan Force</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-a-day-passes-without-thinking-about-race-what-african-migrants-told-us-about-parenting-in-australia-149167">Not a day passes without thinking about race: what African migrants told us about parenting in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>From marginalisation to community</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3954">previous research</a> shows community is not necessarily based on close familial ties, but in the value of collectivising and “walking together” to develop resilience to external stressors. Finding a group of people who share common or similar value systems, interests and experiences provides a social cushion that helps <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-8251-6">reduce the sense of isolation</a>. </p>
<p>For refugees and migrants in Australia, finding communities of interest, attachment and purpose, where a sense of “feeling at home” is inculcated and strengthened, can <a href="https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/a-path-to-social-inclusion-in-a-multicultural-australia/">provide the foundation</a> for a successful new life.</p>
<p>Rosemary’s work as a multicultural liaison officer connects migrants and refugees with resources and each other, and in doing so, employs culturally affirming ways of “being and doing” to solve social problems. Many who engage with Rosemary’s programs report it to be an empowering process that gives them confidence to <a href="https://vimeo.com/516439320">help others</a>. </p>
<p>Gradually, as connections solidify, the community designs its own solutions to pressing social issues (such as domestic violence and loneliness) and psychological issues (such a depression and anxiety). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/battlegrounds-highly-skilled-black-african-professionals-on-racial-microaggressions-at-work-149169">Battlegrounds: highly skilled Black African professionals on racial microaggressions at work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>From trauma to healing</h2>
<p>Many of the women Rosemary works with have complex life stories layered with unbearable trauma, grief and loss. Rosemary uses cultural symbols of eating together, dancing together, and being together, to build safe connections for these women. </p>
<p>The film includes moving moments as women share the “healing moments” they’ve experienced through Rosemary’s work. They reflect on the gift of being seen, heard and understood. For some, the experience of being cared for has empowered them to leave abusive relationships, enrol to study, and reengage socially with community in a healthy way. </p>
<p>All these individual “wins” are good for families, communities and for Australia. Rosemary’s community impact reminded me of an African proverb I grew up hearing a lot: if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People standing in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396447/original/file-20210422-21-1p55b3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ubuntu philosophy argues we are made human when we humanise others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan Force</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Towards ‘Ubuntu’</h2>
<p>Rosemary’s work strongly aligns with the African collectivist ways of “doing” community work, which focus on principles of <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ubuntu-south-africa-together-nelson-mandela/">Ubuntu</a>. This is an African philosophy centred on the premise: “I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am”. The essence of being human is made possible through the process of humanising others. </p>
<p>Captured in Rosemary’s Way is the willingness to see, feel and enter the depth of other people’s experiences with deep care. This form of human-centred community practice produces interconnectedness and change. “In the end, I want us to all feel like human beings,” Rosemary says. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C14%2C1859%2C1063&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman with arms up" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C14%2C1859%2C1063&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396448/original/file-20210422-19-14wb70e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘I met an angel on the street,’ says a woman in the film about Rosemary Kariuki.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fan Force</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-up-african-in-australia-racism-resilience-and-the-right-to-belong-113121">Growing Up African in Australia: racism, resilience and the right to belong</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Lessons from Rosemary’s Way</h2>
<p>Although there are harmful narratives about migrants and refugees in Australia, which are frequently <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244017720483">deficit-focused and connected to negative racial stereotypes</a>, Rosemary does not see migrants as problems that need “to be fixed.” </p>
<p>Instead she shows us real examples of how “strength-based approaches” underpinned by sharing food, dance, laughter and connection — regardless of our backgrounds — can offer a powerful way of fostering belonging among these communities. </p>
<p>I recommend screening this film at your work, church, school, book club, local cinema or wherever you connect with community. Reflect on the goodness, light, laughter and joy (and maybe some tears) Rosemary will beam into you … and then share that soft moment with someone else. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://rosemaryswaythefilm.org/">Rosemary’s Way</a> is screening nationally.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathomi Gatwiri PhD does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hailed as an Australian hero, Rosemary Kariuki works to connect refugee and migrant women through their strengths and joys — rather than treating them like ‘problems’ to be fixed.Kathomi Gatwiri PhD, Senior lecturer, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1586142021-04-18T20:07:56Z2021-04-18T20:07:56ZPeter Weir’s Gallipoli 40 years on: deftly directed and still devastating<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395388/original/file-20210416-14-1065qpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C5%2C988%2C678&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gallipoli (1981)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzY1NDc4MzQtYWUyOS00Yjc4LTk2ODEtZDRkMWQ5M2Y2ZmM2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg">IMDB</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the release of the first-world-war film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082432/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Gallipoli</a> in 1981, director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001837/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Peter Weir</a> could finally shrug off the nickname he had laboured under since making his first films: “Peter Weird”. </p>
<p>Idiosyncratic work like Homesdale (1971), The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), and the deeply atmospheric, metaphysical dramas Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and The Last Wave (1977) had <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/38838/65996_00000471_02_peter_weir.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1">earned Weir a reputation</a> for making quirky, mysterious, genre-bending films. His gift for creating mood and atmosphere at times overwhelmed his concern with linear narrative. </p>
<p>This tendency seemed to change quite consciously with Gallipoli. Weir has said the inspiration for the story came from a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=94RSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=peter+weir+on+walking+in+the+trenches+turkey+1976&source=bl&ots=HR4DDHhujT&sig=ACfU3U25ni1O41XNk7W8G950gYz1kMhOew&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_p7fhu4HwAhXq63MBHTQ1B2MQ6AEwD3oECBIQAw#v=onepage&q=peter%20weir%20on%20walking%20in%20the%20trenches%20turkey%201976&f=false">trip to Anzac Cove in 1976</a>. Flying back to Australia from London, he took a detour to Turkey. At the Gallipoli Peninsula, walking in still-extant trenches, Weir found not just shrapnel and bullet-casings, but also the personal effects of young soldiers. These tiny mementos poking out of the earth were probably the final objects held by some young men before they died.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-their-own-words-letters-from-anzacs-during-the-gallipoli-evacuation-52076">In their own words: letters from ANZACs during the Gallipoli evacuation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The experience was profound. From this emotional rite of passage came the seeds of a work Weir has described as his “<a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2501782">graduation film</a>”. </p>
<p>The sensitivity and respect with which he approached the material in Gallipoli was striking. Playwright David Williamson was brought on to craft a screenplay from a story Weir had penned himself. For the two central characters, Weir chose <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497826/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Mark Lee</a> as Archie, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000154/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Mel Gibson</a> — fresh from the success of Mad Max — as Frank.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="black and white photo of men on war film set" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395387/original/file-20210416-13-1k177fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Director Peter Weir with Mel Gibson on set.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTVkYzhkNDctOWQ4Yy00YzljLTk2NGEtMGUxMWZlNTEyZjQyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg">IMDB</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Blood red, burnished orange</h2>
<p>Originally envisioned as a detailed, epic narrative of war, Gallipoli was gradually narrowed in scope to focus on the experiences of the two friends, competitive runners who enlist in the army for slightly different reasons. Archie is the idealist — joining to do his duty. Frank is more cautious and self-centred, eventually talked into enlisting by his mates.</p>
<p>Archie and Frank bond quickly and suddenly find themselves transported to Egypt, on their way to Turkey and their respective appointments with destiny.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young men" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395195/original/file-20210415-19-1sh3ymr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frank and Archie bond quickly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gallipoli (1981)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/dawn/spirit">ANZAC experiences in the first world war</a> arguably cemented post-colonial Australian ideals of mateship, bravery and love for country. Yet while many of the character attributes and events the film celebrates are still very much part of the Australian consciousness, in Weir’s film, these attributes are genuinely — one might even say lovingly — treated in mythic fashion.</p>
<p>From Gallipoli’s opening frames, where blood-red credits play out on a black background as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adagio-in-G-Minor">Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor</a> plays, we immediately see a sober and attentive approach to the storytelling.</p>
<p>The opening scene finds Archie training to run on the farm. Courtesy of cinematographer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006570/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Russell Boyd</a>, the outback location is all burnished oranges, browns and reds. </p>
<p>There is an immaculate attentiveness to costume, set dressing and editing. </p>
<p>Both Mark Lee and elder statesman <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0449652/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Bill Kerr</a> (as his Uncle Jack) deliver beautiful — and beautifully directed — performances, perfectly establishing the central themes of love, family and belonging. It is clear from the opening minutes this is a story being told with a deft hand.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qV1l_ww89k0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘How fast are you gonna run?’ ‘As fast as a leopard.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-funding-hollywood-films-at-the-expense-of-our-stories-79898">Why is the Australian government funding Hollywood films at the expense of our stories?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A war film about loss</h2>
<p>Gallipoli retains its focus on the emotional and psychological effects of war throughout the film; from the families left behind to the deep friendships torn asunder by death and violence, every character and situation in the film helps construct Weir’s portrait of innocence lost. (Gallipoli has far more in common with Terrence Malick’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Thin Red Line</a> than with Steven Spielberg’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Saving Private Ryan</a>.)</p>
<p>Watching Gallipoli <a href="https://www.if.com.au/australian-international-screen-forum-to-celebrate-40th-anniversary-of-gallipoli/">40 years after its release</a> is a fascinating experience. The film has lost none of its power, and the elegance of its construction has become even more pronounced after multiple viewings.</p>
<p>Having studied Williamson’s screenplay for the film (based on a story outline by Weir and <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-337956683/findingaid#nla-obj-337964356">marked as a third draft, dated 1979</a>), I was struck by enormous differences — in both plot and overall tone — between the 1979 draft and the final cut of the film.<br>
Williamson’s draft spends much time establishing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-politics-explainer-the-great-war-wwi-100462">geopolitical context</a> for the conflict, much of the exposition of which is absent from the film. </p>
<p>Another significant excision from the screenplay is a romantic subplot between Archie and a young woman he plans to marry when he returns from the war. Weir would ultimately choose to make the central relationship the one between Archie and Frank, thus reinforcing the crucial themes of mateship and innocence destroyed by war.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two soldiers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395197/original/file-20210415-23-1mo54jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Friendship in war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gallipoli (1981)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-politics-explainer-the-great-war-wwi-100462">World politics explainer: The Great War (WWI)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Coming of age</h2>
<p>An enormously important addition to the film is absent from the screenplay: the motif of running, and Archie’s extraordinary gift for running “as fast as a leopard”. </p>
<p>Weir begins and ends the story with scenes of Archie running in response to a whistle-blow. The context changes tragically: from practising for a race on the farm in the idyllic opening scene to running desperately across no-man’s land in the closing one. </p>
<p>Here, Weir’s myth-making hits us between the eyes with stark, tragic inevitability. Archie’s gift for running, which fills him with joy, has ultimately led him to a battlefield across which he has to run for his life, alone and unprotected, a hero embracing his fate.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9LBpsMqNEV0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">From a place you’ve never heard of, comes a story you’ll never forget … Gallipoli.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After Gallipoli, <a href="https://www.if.com.au/australian-international-screen-forum-to-celebrate-40th-anniversary-of-gallipoli/">which won</a> eight Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1982 Golden Globe Awards, Weir would leave behind much of the overt quirk and mystery of his early work, and move to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001837/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">political dramas, thrillers and historical pieces</a> — The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Witness (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), The Truman Show (1998), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). </p>
<p>While retaining a love of beautifully-rendered atmosphere, Weir would go on to demonstrate a maturity of storytelling that has made him one of our greatest filmmakers. Perhaps Gallipoli represents its director’s coming-of-age as powerfully as it does its characters’.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Prescott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Beautifully directed, powerfully acted, Peter Weir’s Gallipoli still captures the devastating emotional toll of war, 40 years after it first premiered.Nick Prescott, Lecturer, School of Humanities and Creative Arts, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1554572021-02-17T19:12:18Z2021-02-17T19:12:18ZAustralian cinema is reaping box office rewards during the pandemic. Can the trend continue?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384658/original/file-20210217-12-13c6gsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Eric Bana in The Dry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roadshow Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can Australian films save the cinema? This is not a question often asked. Over the weekend, four of the top five films <a href="https://numero.co/reports/2021/02/15/the-dry-is-still-number-1">at the box office</a> were Australian: firstly, The Dry ($703,037), second <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6317656/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Penguin Bloom</a> ($444,990), fourth <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10896634/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Long Story Short</a> ($315,590) and fifth, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9286908/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">High Ground</a> ($278,783). </p>
<p>The only non-Australian film in the top five was the Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10370822/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4">Detective Chinatown 3</a> (唐人街探案 3). </p>
<p>Where has the juggernaut of Hollywood gone? Or more to the point, what happened to the dominance of the Hollywood studios? On the top ten list, seventh was Universal’s The Croods: A New Age and ninth was Paramount’s Synchronic. </p>
<p>The rest of the list was split between Australian owned and operated distribution companies (Roadshow, Rialto and Madmen) and other boutique international branches. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384655/original/file-20210217-17-1ltvxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jacob Junior Nayinggul in High Ground.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maxo, Bunya Productions, Savage Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The significance here is the clear fracturing of the cinema industry. Due to COVID-19, the big Hollywood studios are stunted in ways the country has not seen since Paramount took a stranglehold of the local industry during World War I. (During that time, in a reversal of what is happening now, Paramount’s block booking system essentially jammed the cinemas full of Hollywood films, allowing no theatrical spaces for local films to be screened.)</p>
<p>Paradoxically, Australian films are needed more now than ever to entice audiences back to the cinema. As the current box office figures would suggest, things have significantly changed to advantage the local Australian production industry, which has benefited from the country’s success in controlling the spread of COVID-19. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-historically-accurate-is-the-film-high-ground-the-violence-it-depicts-is-uncomfortably-close-to-the-truth-154475">How historically accurate is the film High Ground? The violence it depicts is uncomfortably close to the truth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Unlike America, where many cinemas <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/movie-theater-chain-stocks-collapse-dismal-summer-1034001?source=content_type%3Areact%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews%7Csection%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link">shut indefinitely and productions paused</a>, Queensland and the Northern Territory were able to continue their productions across 2020 practically unaffected. </p>
<p>Many of these films are now ready for release into the market.</p>
<p>This is not to say Hollywood has no productions ready for release. There is a significant backlog with the new Batman slated for a 2022 release whereas the new Bond, <a href="https://7news.com.au/entertainment/james-bonds-latest-film-no-time-to-die-due-to-be-released-on-october-8-2021-c-2007278">No Time to Die</a>, has been given numerous tentative release dates over the last year. But with the iffy and truncated global cinema market, and many overseas cinemas remaining shut, such productions may not be distributed for quite some time, if global streaming options are not sought instead. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mVqV1CRTfsM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Penguin Bloom.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Word of mouth</h2>
<p>Last week’s box office figures did not count Victorian cinemas due to the snap state-wide lockdown. Victoria on average generally takes around 30% of the national box office. This bodes well for next week’s box office once Victorian cinemas kick back into business. </p>
<p>Of these Australian films, Robert Connolly’s The Dry has remained a consistent performer since Roadshow daringly decided to release on 1 January, a time when many Australian are holidaying. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-film-adaptations-boost-australian-movies-at-the-box-office-63311">Do film adaptations boost Australian movies at the box office?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Though The Dry itself is not a game-changer, it’s reaping the rewards of a significantly changed industry with expensive marketing campaigns for films like Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 no longer guaranteeing big box office revenue. Risk averse studios are equally not willing to invest millions into marketing campaigns. </p>
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</figure>
<p>What The Dry has achieved, that Christopher Nolan’s under-performing and multimillion budget Tenet did not, is good word-of-mouth generated by eager film-goers. The review consensus at Rotten Tomatoes for The Dry had 100% of critics recommending the film. </p>
<p>Now in its seventh weekend, to date The Dry has earned over $17.3 million ranking it as the <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/australian-films/top-films-at-the-box-office">15th highest grossing Australian film of all time</a> and Connolly’s most successful film ever. </p>
<p>With the dearth of releases internationally, Australian films are also enjoying theatrical distribution. UK-based WestEnd Films is finding success with Rams starring Sam Neill, the English-language adaptation of the 2015 Icelandic feature.</p>
<h2>Hollywood on hold</h2>
<p>The question is whether Australian films will continue to dominate when Hollywood does begin to roll out its backlog of films. </p>
<p>The Walt Disney Company Australia recently announcement their 2021 Release Schedule with dates locked for Black Widow, Jungle Cruise, Death on the Nile and West Side Story, though such an announcement comes with the caveat these films could too be further delayed. Horror film Antlers and Wes Anderson’s prestige pic The French Dispatch are still unslated.</p>
<p>But right now, local films and the local industry are showing confidence in the market and cinema audiences. The Hollywood studios, in comparison, are panicking. </p>
<p>Most notably, Warner Bros., to the chagrin of film producers and cinemas, <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/12/panic-over-the-warner-bros-hbo-max-news-sets-in.html">recently announced</a> plans to release all 17 of its 2021 films via an experimental “hybrid model”. This will see them premiere in theatres as well as on the streaming service HBO Max, simultaneously — for one month domestically, at least. </p>
<p>With COVID making everyone more domestically aware and active, Australian films are another means for the public to buy locally and support the local community. Early into the pandemic there were cries and questions as to whether the cinema industry would survive. Would the public simply prefer to watch films at home? What would happen without Hollywood movies at the cinema? </p>
<p>The answer, it seems, was here all along. A robust and diverse local industry. The real question is whether it can keep up with the demand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155457/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Gaunson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Early into the pandemic there were cries and questions as to whether the cinema industry would survive. The answer, it seems, was here all along. A robust and diverse local industry.Stephen Gaunson, Senior Lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1548012021-02-10T19:07:28Z2021-02-10T19:07:28ZBaz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet at 25: is this the best Shakespeare screen adaptation?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383160/original/file-20210209-15-1uqlj7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C0%2C2400%2C1598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bazmark Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is 25 years since Australian auteur Baz Luhrmann released his gloriously spectacular version of Shakespeare’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117509/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Romeo + Juliet</a>, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the doomed lovers.</p>
<p>While some praised the film as <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/romeo-juliet-review-movie-1996-1248607">“clever and well-executed”</a> and <a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/william-shakespeare-romeo-juliet-review/">“genuinely inventive”</a>, others labelled it <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/romeo-and-juliet-1996">“a very bad idea”</a> and <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/This-Romeo-Is-a-True-Tragedy-DiCaprio-Danes-2960887.php">“a monumental disaster”</a>. How could one film be so polarising?</p>
<p>Lurhmann was not presenting us with a reinterpretation of the stage play, but a complete re-imagining of its universe. Gone was the sense of theatre. Gone were the long soliloquies. Gone were the 16th century costumes. Instead of Verona, Italy, we are on Verona Beach, California. </p>
<p>The Capulet and Montague patriarchs do business in adjacent skyscrapers while the younger generation wage a vicious war on the streets. Tattoos, gold chains, loud Hawaiian shirts, leather vests, and silver teeth adorn them. Swords are replaced with Uzis and pistols.</p>
<p>The soundtrack dispenses with classical strings, replaced by 90s bands such as Radiohead and Garbage. Even the “and” in the title was replaced with a + sign. In every way Lurhmann made this film scream “gangsta”. It feels dangerous.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marx-freud-hitler-mandela-greer-shakespeare-influenced-them-all-57872">Marx, Freud, Hitler, Mandela, Greer... Shakespeare influenced them all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fast and loose</h2>
<p>Many critics compared the film to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/01/movies/soft-what-light-it-s-flash-romeo.html">Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version</a> of Romeo and Juliet. While Zeffirelli’s film is visually sumptuous, it still plays it safe with the material, with few changes in tone or historical period. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Q3Y9223kSI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Lurhmann, in contrast, plays fast and loose with every element of his production. To me, the films are in different stratospheres in their approach to the material and thus totally incomparable.</p>
<p>Shakespeare adaptations set in different time periods had happened before Lurhmann. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103723/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5">As You Like It</a> (1992) was performed in an industrial wasteland. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114279/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Richard III</a> (1995), was set in 1930s Britain; and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117991/">Twelfth Night</a>, made in the same year as Luhrmann’s film, was set in Victorian times.</p>
<p>However, Lurhmann didn’t just take the words and characters from the stage play and insert them into new environments. He created a completely stylised pastiche of visuals, dialogue, character and action. </p>
<p>It’s all quite over the top, as exemplified by the scene where a drag-queened Mercutio <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ88c7Wb-34&list=RDqZ88c7Wb-34&start_radio=1&t=33">dances to Young Hearts Run Free</a>. This is really Shakespeare for a specific demographic — youth. Some have <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/1/16045046/baz-luhrmann-romeo-juliet-20th-anniversary-4c9f63053447">argued</a> Luhrmann’s film was beloved by attention deficit teenagers who later regarded it as “embarrassing” in adulthood . But I think this simplifies things. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ88c7Wb-34?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>I can understand why traditionalists, who didn’t mind the other adaptations set in modern times, don’t like this one. Much of the humour is pure slapstick, the acting can be over-exaggerated and lines are over-emphasised. There are large parts of the film which don’t have any dialogue at all, it’s all just visuals and music.</p>
<p>But the onscreen chemistry between Danes and DiCaprio is electric. Their scenes are genuinely emotionally charged, often heightened by the musical accompaniment.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SHdfqdxSh60?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>And Lurhmann was making a film that would appeal to those who loved or loathed, or were indifferent, to traditional Shakespeare. A Shakespeare accessible to everyone.</p>
<p>This can be seen in the dialogue delivery of actors such as John Leguizamo, who plays Tybalt. As he venomously spits out, in modern gangsta rap style, lines like, “Now by the stock and honour of my kin, To strike him dead I hold it not a sin”, you actually forget you are listening to words written 500 years ago. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shakespeare-had-fewer-words-but-doper-rhymes-than-rappers-27424">Shakespeare had fewer words, but doper rhymes, than rappers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>My favourite scene has always been Mercutio’s death. In the minutes leading up to, during and after he dies, Lurhmann dispenses with glitz and glamour, concentrating solely on the engagement between DiCaprio, Harold Perrineau (Mercutio) and Leguizamo. This is raw, visceral acting, no exaggeration, no contrivance. </p>
<h2>Fluid works</h2>
<p>Some have argued making such radical changes to the text is unnecessary and <a href="https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/adapting-shakespeare/">harms the essence</a> of Shakespearean drama. The nuance and poetry of Shakespeare’s language is lost in all the flash and sparkle.</p>
<p>But pop culture critic Tori Godfree <a href="http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/236/baz-luhrmanns-romeo-juliet-compared-with-shakespeares-original-work">contends that</a> Lurhmann’s incorporation of contemporary jokes, music and pop culture into his film is exactly what Shakespeare did in the original play. Shakespeare’s works should not be treated as sacrosanct icons but as fluid works open to reconstruction and modernisation. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-50-shades-of-shakespeare-how-the-bard-sexed-things-up-106783">Friday essay: 50 shades of Shakespeare - how the Bard sexed things up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Luhrmann’s approach worked. The film grossed <a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Romeo-and-Juliet-(1996)#tab=summary">over ten times its $14.5 million dollar budget</a>. No other direct Shakespeare adaptation has come close to this sort of <a href="https://money.com/shakespeare-movies-box-office-billions/">monetary success</a>. Others have since embraced gangsta style violence in their own Shakespeare adaptions, notably Australian director Justin Kurzel, with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2884018/">Macbeth</a>, and David Michod’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984766/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The King</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Juliet as an angel, Romeo as a knight. He goes to kiss her hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383181/original/file-20210209-23-12uj0qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lurhmann incorporated pop culture into his telling — just as Shakespeare would have done.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bazmark Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Romeo + Juliet catapulted Luhrmann into the A-list, where he was given free reign on his next film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203009/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Moulin Rouge</a>. Unfortunately, I think Lurhmann’s love of visual excess overwhelmed this and his further films, which were much more focused on screen imagery and design than story, character or meaning. </p>
<p>Perhaps the difference with Romeo + Juliet is that Luhrmann had a great script to start with. One can justly say of this lush, loud film, “For I never saw true beauty till this night”.</p>
<p><em>Romeo + Juliet is being re-released in selected cinemas from February 11 to mark its 25th anniversary.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154801/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Sparkes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It was the film that put the gangsta in Shakespeare: loud, brash, and brimming with pistols and gold chains.Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer (Media Studies and Production), University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1544752021-02-09T19:08:01Z2021-02-09T19:08:01ZHow historically accurate is the film High Ground? The violence it depicts is uncomfortably close to the truth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382893/original/file-20210207-14-1shv6c1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jacob Junior Nayinggul (left) and Simon Baker in High Ground (2020).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maxo, Bunya Productions, Savage Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9286908/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt">High Ground</a>, set mostly at a mission in Arnhem Land in the 1930s, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/people-weren-t-ready-australian-massacre-aired-at-berlin-premiere-20200224-p543r9.html">blends stories</a> (and languages) from Indigenous Nations across the region.</p>
<p>It is a <a href="https://thelatch.com.au/high-ground-movie/">fictionalised story</a>, inspired, says director Stephen Maxwell Johnson, by “true history”. At times, the film resembles a shoot-em-up Western. But it gets a lot right.</p>
<p>High Ground was written by Chris Anastassiades and co-produced by Witiyana Marika, (a founding member of Yothu Yindi), who appears in a supporting role as Grandfather Dharrpa and was the film’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/09/i-did-this-for-my-family-how-high-ground-used-a-both-ways-approach-to-tell-australias-story">senior cultural advisor</a>. It tells of a police massacre of Aboriginal people and the repercussions that follow.</p>
<p>Massacres at the hands of police and settlers were tragically common through northern Australia. The opening scene, depicting a massacre beside a waterhole in 1919, echoes the 1911 <a href="https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=715">Gan Gan Massacre</a> in which mounted police killed more than 30 Yolngu people in a “punishment expedition”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WL-G4oCoDF0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>The mission</h2>
<p>In the film, a young boy, Gutjuk, who survives the massacre of his family, is taken to a mission. The <a href="https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nt/YE00010">Roper River Mission</a> (now Ngukurr), established in 1908 and run by the Church Missionary Society, really did take in Aboriginal children who had either lost kin, or been forcibly removed from their families. </p>
<p>By the 1920s, there were so many children at Roper River that the society established a <a href="https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nt/YE00011">new mission</a> just for them on Groote Eylandt. Another mission opened at <a href="https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nt/YE00012">Oenpelli</a> (now Gunbalanya) in 1925, the subject of <a href="https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/aboriginal-history/bible-buffalo-country">our recent book</a>. </p>
<p>Parts of High Ground were shot in the vicinity of Oenpelli, which likely inspired the mission in the film.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382961/original/file-20210208-15-f3dztb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jacob Junior Nayinggul as Gutjuk, who survives a massacre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maxo, Bunya Productions, Savage Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The real station</h2>
<p>Before it was a mission, Oenpelli was a cattle station and buffalo shooters’ camp run by a man named Paddy Cahill. In the film, a young woman, Gulwirri, who fights to defend her people, has worked as a “house girl” on a station and speaks of the violence she experienced. </p>
<p>Cahill had a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76231-9_5">reputation for brutality</a>. He wrote of chaining Aboriginal people by the neck. The community remembers how he used to shoot people’s dogs, and his son was known to give workers a “hiding”. There are rumours, too, that Paddy was involved in a massacre. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Gurrhwek Mangiru (left) with baby Gurrhwek Mangiru (left) Albert Balmana, and unidentified woman and baby (right), Oenpelli, Northern Territory Archives Service." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382138/original/file-20210203-13-prxarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gurrhwek Mangiru (left) with baby Albert Balmana, and unidentified woman and baby (right), Oenpelli, c.1925.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Archives Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Provoked by his behaviour, traditional owners instigated a plot to take out Cahill and his household. In 1917, strychnine was mixed into the family’s butter, killing their dog, and making Paddy’s wife Maria and two Aboriginal housemaids, Marealmark and Topsy seriously ill. Punishment for those Cahill suspected to be responsible was swift and violent. </p>
<p>In High Ground, the police officers’ earlier experience as soldiers fuels their bloody tactics. After Cahill left Oenpelli in 1922, caretaker Don Campbell managed the station until missionaries arrived. Campbell, too, was a returned serviceman, described as violent. Incoming missionary, Rev Alf Dyer <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n7284/pdf/book.pdf">wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are plenty [of Aboriginal people] about. Mr. Campbell said he had about 300 last Christmas. His policy has been to hunt them, because of the cattle killing; as you read between the lines you will see plenty of problems for the Superintendent of Oenpelli — we will have an uphill fight.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The real missionaries</h2>
<p>In High Ground, the mission is run by a young brother and sister team. The latter, Claire, speaks the local language.</p>
<p>The original missionaries at Oenpelli were an older, socially awkward couple with prior experience: Alf and Mary Dyer. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Alf and Mary Dyer, c.1930" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382137/original/file-20210203-13-lvzz9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alf and Mary Dyer, c.1930, Northern Territory Archives Service.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some have questioned whether a missionary woman would have learned language in the 1930s. But the character of Claire resembles the real figure of Nell Harris, who arrived at Oenpelli in 1933, aged 29. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-dreaming-of-a-white-christmas-on-the-aboriginal-missions-88381">Friday essay: dreaming of a 'white Christmas' on the Aboriginal missions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Thanks to her Aboriginal teachers, Harris quickly began learning Kunwinkju and, together with local women Hannah Mangiru and Rachel Maralngurra, translated the Gospel of Mark.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Outside the Church at Oenpelli, c.1930, Northern Territory Archives Service." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382856/original/file-20210207-20-zx5rf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outside the Church at Oenpelli, c.1930.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Archives Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The real Gutjuk</h2>
<p>In the film, Gutjuk (played as an adult by Jacob Junior Nayinggul), grows up at the mission. He uses this affiliation to work for the interests of his kin in defending themselves against the police, who come looking for his uncle, Baywara, a warrior and survivor of the 1919 massacre. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382859/original/file-20210207-13-fovbdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nipper Marakarra Gumurdul standing behind seated man. Frank ‘Naluwud’ Girrabul on crutches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Archives Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This reminds us of a real historical figure, Narlim. Narlim was eldest son of senior traditional owner of the land at Oenpelli — Nipper Marakarra. Narlim was born in 1909, making him around the same age as the fictional Gutjuk. </p>
<p>Narlim grew up at the mission because, after working for Cahill, Nipper saw strategic value in an alliance with missionaries. He also wanted his children to learn to read and speak English. This alliance was a way to ensure continued life on Country and to maintain sovereignty as traditional owners.</p>
<p>But, as in the film, missionary cooperation with police was disastrous for Narlim. When a policeman visited in the late 1930s, he found Narlim had an infectious disease. The policeman handcuffed Narlim, intending to chain him with a group of others to be sent to Darwin.</p>
<p>The missionaries said the chains were unnecessary as Narlim “would behave”, but they did not save him. Narlim was exiled from the mission and his country under police escort, baby daughter on one shoulder and spears on the other, never to return. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Narlim, stock-worker, c.1929’" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382139/original/file-20210203-23-1dfcs78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Narlim, stock-worker, c.1929.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Archive Services</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>His daughter, Peggy eventually came home and became a strong community leader.</p>
<h2>The real ‘punishment’ and ‘peace’ expeditions</h2>
<p>In 1932, Yolngu warriors killed a party of Japanese pearlers trespassing on their country. Constable Albert McColl was sent in; he too was speared. So police proposed a “punishment expedition”, not unlike those depicted in High Ground. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dr-g-yunupinu-took-yolnu-culture-to-the-world-81676">How Dr G.Yunupiŋu took Yolŋu culture to the world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>After a humanitarian outcry, the society proposed a “peace expedition” instead. The expedition went unarmed to the Yolngu warriors. Unlike events depicted in the film, three were convinced to come to Darwin for trial. The men were found guilty but eventually released. Yet one, Dhakiyarr, disappeared after his release. The open secret in Darwin was that Dhakiyarr was <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dhakiyarr-wirrpanda-12885">drowned in the harbour</a> in an extra-judicial police killing.</p>
<p>The film gets right the ambiguous missionary relationship to violence. Missions were meant to be a refuge from inter-tribal and settler violence. Missionaries understood their humanitarian and evangelistic work as seeking to atone for the bloodshed of colonisation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382895/original/file-20210207-15-oc83vk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An attempt at negotiation on the mission in High Ground. Claire and her brother are on the right, Grandfather Dharrpa seated on the left.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maxo, Bunya Productions, Savage Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But they also relied upon and enabled the ongoing violence of settler authorities. As “Aboriginal Protectors” missionaries functioned as local sheriffs and carried guns. Missionaries would send Aboriginal people for trial in Darwin, or else implement their own punishments.</p>
<p>As portrayed in the film, missionaries joined expeditions to capture supposed lawbreakers. Alf Dyer, for instance, led the so-called “peace expedition” to convince Yolngu men to face trial in white courts.</p>
<h2>The historical record</h2>
<p>High Ground also shows how self-conscious white authorities were creating a historical record. </p>
<p>The chief of police, played by Jack Thompson, seems to be always directing a photographer to take portraits. These images were good for fund raising, for impressing officials. They do not reflect the full story of the community. But they do give us a glimpse of the complex relationships in Arnhem Land in the 1930s.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Group of girls at the Oenpelli Mission c.1930, Northern Territory Archives Service" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382140/original/file-20210203-19-jeeq9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Group of girls at the Oenpelli Mission c.1930, Northern Territory Archives Service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Northern Territory Archive Services</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>High Ground, of course, is a highly dramatised piece of art. But, as the filmmakers have said, it’s closer to <a href="https://thelatch.com.au/high-ground-movie/">uncomfortable historical truths</a> than we might expect. By showcasing such stories, the film will hopefully encourage broader reflection on Australia’s violent history, and its enduring legacies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Rademaker receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally K. May receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Narndal Gumurdul does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In depicting brutal massacres and mission life, this film gets a lot right. And the model for its central protagonist may well be a young man called Narlim, exiled from his country in the late 1930s.Laura Rademaker, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Research Centre for Deep History, Australian National UniversityJulie Narndal Gumurdul, Senior Traditional Owner, Gunbalanya community, Western Arnhem Land, Indigenous KnowledgeSally K. May, Senior Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541842021-02-04T19:08:30Z2021-02-04T19:08:30ZFriday essay: why Rosaleen Norton, ‘the witch of Kings Cross’, was a groundbreaking bohemian<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381843/original/file-20210202-19-i7og1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5697%2C4369&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rosaleen Norton works in crayon in a converted stable in Kings Cross in Sydney, 1946.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">News Ltd/Black Jelly Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rosaleen Norton, or “the witch of Kings Cross,” is finally receiving the attention she deserves. Born in Dunedin in 1917, emigrating with her family to Sydney in 1925, and dying in 1979, Norton was a trailblazing woman and under-appreciated cultural touchstone of 20th century Australia.</p>
<p>A self proclaimed witch, Norton experienced childhood visions. From around the age of 23, she practised trance magic and, later, sex magic in various flats and squats in inner-city Sydney. </p>
<p>Trance magic involved Norton meditating (sometimes with the assistance of various substances, ingested and/or inhaled) and raising her consciousness. The aim was to transcend her physical body and conscious mind to experience higher forms of existence. </p>
<p>Sex magic was developed by the infamous occultist, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aleister-Crowley">Aleister Crowley</a> around 1904, and involves a complicated series of sexual rituals designed for a variety of perceived needs (depending on the practitioner), including spiritual awakening. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A naked woman with hair of flames rides a firebird." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381854/original/file-20210202-13-1719k0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">FireBird by Rosaleen Norton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Black Jelly Films, courtesy Burgess Family</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As an artist, Norton drew and painted her beliefs and the gods, goddesses, and spiritual beings who were central to it. She also lived free from societal expectations. Not only a witch, but openly bisexual, Norton robustly challenged a predominantly Christian Australia. But she was reviled for doing so, attacked by the media for her art, her beliefs, her lifestyle, and sometimes, her appearance. She experienced police surveillance and faced obscenity charges over her art. </p>
<p>Norton defied cultural norms and, though she did not identify as a feminist, was a powerfully unconventional woman. Poor but not without imaginative style, she had distinctive arched eyebrows, sometimes dressed in male attire, and was often photographed wearing all black. With <a href="https://www.witchofkingscross.com/">a new film about her life</a> being released next week, it is timely to look at her legacy. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jQSB8AtXqi0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<h2>Freedom and creativity</h2>
<p>Norton’s story has fascinated me from the age of five, when I began to devour the 1970s tabloid newspapers and magazines that featured her. During those years, Norton had become something of a recluse, rarely appearing in public but graciously agreeing to be interviewed about her life. By this time, the legend of “the witch of Kings Cross” was entrenched. Norton was not averse to it, even donning a pointed hat for photos.</p>
<p>This passionate interest went on to inform my adult life. As a classicist, I have explored Norton’s occult belief system, which embraced the old gods. Beings such as <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html#:%7E:text=HEKATE%20(Hecate)%20was%20the%20goddess,heaven%2C%20earth%2C%20and%20sea.">Hecate</a>, an ancient Greek goddess who presided over witches, <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/lilith/">Lilith</a>, the ancient female demon originating in Mesopotamia, and the Egyptian goddess <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Isis-Egyptian-goddess">Isis</a>, were at the heart of Norton’s magical practice. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A stone statue of Pan and Daphnis, half humans half goats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1189&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381635/original/file-20210201-19-hbymzu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pan and Daphnis. Roman copy of Greek original c. 100 BC, found in Pompeii.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the Greek god <a href="https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/pan/">Pan</a> was at the centre of her pantheon. To the ancient Greeks, Pan was the god of nature, regularly associated with pastureland and its human and animal inhabitants.</p>
<p>Half-man, half-goat, Pan also embodied the sexual drive, the uninhibited urge to copulate. As the “High Priestess at the Altar of Pan”, Norton performed rituals both alone and with members of her inner magical circle in his honour. </p>
<p>In my own research, I have studied witchcraft through the ages and how, especially from Victorian times, it provided an outlet for unconventional women to leverage freedom (and sometimes power) and express their creativity. (Even as a child, I baulked at the media’s determination to cast Norton as a woman to be judged, feared or, worse still, mocked.)</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toil-and-trouble-the-myth-of-the-witch-is-no-myth-at-all-42306">Toil and trouble: the myth of the witch is no myth at all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As an academic, I extended my research into the worlds of Greece and Rome with a focus on sexual histories and belief systems — and explored Norton’s life through the same lens. Along the way, I acquired enough material to donate a personal archive on Norton to the library at The University of Newcastle.</p>
<p>Norton’s identity as a witch was formed early. As a child, she was drawn to the night, to nature, and to drawing and recording the preternatural world. In an article published in Australasian Post in January 1957, she describes visions from the age of five (a lady in a grey dress, a dragon) and trance states (which she called “Big Things and Little Things”) to capture the experience of her body growing in size as she “floated,” as if in a dream. She also records the appearance of “witch marks” on her left knee when she was seven (in the form of two small, blue dots).</p>
<p>Bored and frustrated by her middle-class life in Lindfield on the North Shore, Norton left home for inner-city Sydney at the age of 17 and never returned. She found employment as an artist model (including a stint modelling for Norman Lindsay), a pavement artist, and as a contributor to the avant-garde publication, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertinent_(magazine)">Pertinent</a>.</p>
<p>Eventually, she based herself in Kings Cross. There, she was free to explore and develop her beliefs and practices. In the late 1940s, it was where she met one of her companions in life and magic, the poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Greenlees">Gavin Greenlees</a> (1930-1983). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Norton wearing slacks, smoking in public, sitting in the gutter. A woman walks past, looking scandalised." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=805&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381497/original/file-20210131-19594-1xkrw58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rosaleen Norton and poet Gavin Greenlees, one of her lovers, photographed on Darlinghurst Road in 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sydney Morning Herald</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Strands of magic</h2>
<p>Norton and Greenlees practised several strands of magic, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance">trance</a> magic, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_magic">sex magic</a>, and ceremonies combining and improvising elements from several traditions. These included <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini">Kundalini</a> (the feminine, creative force of infinite wisdom that “lives” inside us, usually represented by a snake) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra">Tantra</a> (encompassing esoteric rituals and practices from Hindu and Buddhist traditions). </p>
<p>Norton explained that she employed these practices to augment her unconscious, inspire and empower her art, and commune with entities on other planes.</p>
<p>Norton’s trance magic, in states of self-hypnosis, was a continuation of her childhood visions and visitations. In correspondence with a psychologist in 1949, she described experiencing deities and projecting her <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_body">astral body</a> to contact other practitioners in alternative <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/spheres">spiritual spheres</a>. The idea, she wrote, was “to induce an abnormal state of consciousness and manifest the results, if any, in drawing”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-murky-cauldron-modern-witchcraft-and-the-spell-on-trump-73830">A murky cauldron – modern witchcraft and the spell on Trump</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These experiences informed and inspired her art. Norton’s paintings were produced for her own ritual spaces, as well as for exhibitions and publications. In a well-known photograph from the 1950s, Norton is shown crouching at the base of her altar to Pan, replete with a large portrait of the god.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Norton holds a cat in front of a large painting of Pain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381494/original/file-20210131-19896-1blgei8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Norton in front of her altar to the god Pan, photographed in 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Sydney Morning Herald/Black Jelly Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pan features in many other works. As Norton said in 1957, his “pipes are a symbol of magic and mystery”, while his “horns and hooves stand for natural energies and fleet-footed freedom”.</p>
<p>Norton’s worship of Pan reflected her passion for animals, insects and nature in general. While she did not publicly campaign for animal rights, she was, in some respects, a forerunner of the movement. Regularly the target of outrageous media allegations, she was particularly incensed when asked whether, as a witch, she performed animal sacrifice. </p>
<p>In 1954, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Australia">89.4%</a> of the Australian population identified as Christian. Unfortunately for Norton, the ancient Greek god Pan also resembles Christian representations of Satan or the Devil. Indeed with his goat legs, pointed ears, and lascivious face, Pan most likely inspired early Christian images of Satan. Norton was regularly asked whether she was a Satanist. She wasn’t. But, accusations of Satanism haunted her.</p>
<p>Journalists accused her of Devil worship, police occasionally placed her and Greenlees under surveillance, and her private life became fair game. By the 1950s, the tabloid press’ preferred name for Norton — “the witch of Kings Cross” — had stuck. It featured in news stories on her even after her death.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Newspaper reads: self-confessed Satanists this week celebrated Black Mass in the heart of Kings Cross." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381612/original/file-20210201-15-1cpsyiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sensationalist claims about Norton were frequently published in Sydney’s newspapers, like here in the Sunday Telegraph.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Sunday Telegraph/Black Jelly Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Censorship and court proceedings</h2>
<p>Norton’s run-ins with authorities are partly what make her such an important historical figure. Her early exhibitions were subject to media attention and sensationalism, censorship and court proceedings. During an exhibition of her art at Rowden-White Library, University of Melbourne, in 1949, the Vice Squad seized several works deemed to be profane. Norton appeared in court on obscenity charges — the first such case against a woman in Victoria.</p>
<p>While Norton was acquitted, more scandals erupted. Her collaboration with Greenlees on a book titled, The Art of Rosaleen Norton, with poems by Gavin Greenlees, published privately by Walter Glover in 1952, landed Glover and printer, Tonecraft Pty Ltd, in court on charges of producing an obscene publication. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A demon with a serpentine phallus" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381851/original/file-20210202-15-18ltqrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fohat, one of Norton’s most famous and controversial works.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Black Jelly Films, courtesy Burgess Family</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Glover was fined £5 and Tonecraft £1. The book was subject to a customs ban (copies sent to New York were confiscated and burnt by United States Customs) and it became a prohibited import to Australia. </p>
<p>Norton’s Fohat (one of the book’s notorious images) was a representation of her beliefs. The goat, she said, “is a symbol of energy and creativity: the serpent of elemental force and eternity”. As with the images of Pan (and many other artworks), the meaning behind Fohat was misconstrued, deemed obscene and Satanic.</p>
<h2>The case of Sir Eugene Goossens</h2>
<p>Norton’s practice of sex magic was at the centre of one sensational court case. Her private rituals concerning the practice (including, among other acts, anal and oral sex, and sado-masochism) involved a discrete group of devotees. One of them was the revered composer and conductor <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goossens-sir-eugene-aynsley-10329">Sir Eugene Goossens</a> (1893-1962). </p>
<p>As director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium and chief conductor of the ABC’s Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the English-born Goossens was a cultural and social giant in a still very parochial Australia. Having seen a copy of the infamous book by Norton and Greenlees, Goossens sought out the couple and soon became part of their occult practices and personal lives.</p>
<p>Caught up in their world, Goossens became an unsuspecting target of police surveillance. In March 1956, returning from an overseas trip, he was confronted with officers waiting to search his luggage and subsequently charged with importing prohibited items, allegedly including “indecent works and articles, namely a number of books, prints and photographs, and a quantity of film”.</p>
<p>Goossens was besieged day and night at his home, and newspapers screamed headlines, such as “BIG NAMES IN DEVIL RITE PROBE”. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white cat looks straight at you." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=872&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381848/original/file-20210202-21-19fnipx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1096&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Norton photographed with her cat in 1949.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">News Ltd</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Goossens’ life and career were ruined. He pleaded guilty to pornography charges <em>in absentia</em> at a hearing in Martin Place Court of Petty Sessions, was fined £100, and returned to the United Kingdom a broken man. </p>
<p>While the media and some biographers of Goossens still tend to blame Norton for contaminating him by inducting him into her unholy cult of sex magic, this could not be further from the truth.</p>
<p>In fact, Goossens came to Australia with significant experience in occult practices, <a href="https://uoncc.wordpress.com/tag/rosaleen-norton/">actively seeking out Norton and Greenlees</a>. Personal <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goossens-sir-eugene-aynsley-10329">correspondence from Goossens to Norton</a> reveals his role in mentoring his new friends in more advanced magic, and hints at a network of practitioners in the UK and Europe. Three of the extant letters are signed with Goossens’ magical name, “Djinn”. </p>
<h2>Later life</h2>
<p>Norton retired from public view during the 1970s, living in a basement flat in Roslyn Garden, with her sister, Cecily Boothman (1905-1991), close by in the same apartment block. Frail, in poor health, but an artist and witch to the end, Norton practised her rituals, painted and communed with animals and nature.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A colour drawing. A fat male god with bat wings sits over a writhing mass of naked bodies." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381852/original/file-20210202-19-p447gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rosaleen Norton’s Bacchanal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Black Jelly Films, courtesy Burgess Family</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She and Boothman were visited by Greenlees on his days of temporary release from the Alma Mater Nursing Home, Kensington, where he had been sectioned after a lengthy stay at Callan Park Mental Hospital at the age of 25. </p>
<p>At the age of 61, Norton was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died at the Sacred Heart Hospice for the Dying, in Darlinghurst, on 5 December 1979. </p>
<p>Norton has been the subject of biographies by <a href="https://www.nevilldrury.com/">Nevill Drury</a>, a fictionalised account, Pagan, by <a href="https://www.inezbaranay.com/">Inez Baranay</a>, and several plays (including a student production, on which I was dramaturg). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3EbZFy4XJM">Rare footage</a> also captures her at her rebellious best: ensconced in a Kings Cross cafe, talking about rejecting the ordinary life of wife and mother, the thought of which prompts her to say: “I’d go mad”.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3EbZFy4XJM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Norton was more than a witch. When we look closer at a woman reviled by the media, we see a groundbreaking bohemian, committed to living freely and authentically, who challenged censorship.</p>
<p>In many ways, she helped to push Australia out of the safety of the Menzies era, into the civilising forces of the sexual revolution and the freedoms it brought. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.witchofkingscross.com/">The Witch of Kings Cross</a>, written and directed by Sonia Bible, will be released on Amazon, iTunes, Vimeo and GooglePlay on 9th February and opens in selected cinemas from February 11.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marguerite Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An artist and self-proclaimed witch, Rosaleen Norton defied cultural norms in Menzies-era Australia. Reviled by the media, she was a powerfully unconventional woman.Marguerite Johnson, Professor of Classics, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.