|
This film series showcases the latest works by and about indigenous Australians,
including award-winning features, shorts dramas and documentaries - many of which are New York premieres.
Set in rural and urban environments, these powerful and beautifully shot films tell stories
of racism, coming-of-age, and Australian's stolen generation.Curated by Sally Riley
and presented in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade through the Australia International Cultural Council and the Australian Film Commission.
Each screening: $7 members; $10 non-members. For tickets call (212) 517-ASIA.
Location: Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, New York.
Film Schedule:
Friday, October 18, 6:30 p.m.
Program 1: Opening Feature
Confessions of a Headhunter (Sally Riley/2000/33 min/35mm)
Frank and Vinnie are modern day headhunters. They don't just want any heads;
they want famous heads; heads that will stop the nation dead.
One Night the Moon (Rachel Perkins/2001/54 min/35mm)
In 1935 a small child is lured by the moon into the Australian bush.
Her racist father refuses to allow the Aboriginal tracker to assist with
the search until the mother intervenes.
|
Reception with the filmmakers follows the screening.
Hosted by the Australian Consulate General of New York.
* Special preview night on Thursday, October 17, 6:00 p.m.
at Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian,
cosponsored by Asia Society and NMAI.
For reservations call (212) 514-3737
or fvc@si.edu.
Confessions of a Headhunter (Sally Riley/2000/33 min/35mm)
One Night the Moon (Rachel Perkins/2001/54 min/25mm)
Program held at:
GGHC Auditorium
One Bowling Green, New York City
Admission is free.
Saturday, October 19, 2:00 p.m.
Program 2: Shorts and Panel
Discussion
 Black Talk
(Wayne Blair/2002/12min/35mm)
Two cousins reunite one last time in this short drama.
|
Shit Skin (Nicholas Boseley/2002/13 min/35mm)
A stolen generation Christian grandmother and her grandson experience conflicting phenomena
and understanding with the deserts of Arrente Country, Central Australia.
|
Turn Around (Samantha Saunders/2002/12 min/35mm)
A teenage guy heads to Sydney for a hot date and is held up on the way.
|
|
Flat (Rebecca Cole/2002/12 min/35mm)
In this short drama Marnie captures 24 hrs of
life with a stolen handycam in the inner city housing project she calls home.
|
|
Mimi (Warwick Thornton/2002/14 min/35mm)
Once you buy black you can't go back! |
Panel Discussion follows with Rachel Perkins,
Sally Riley and Ivan Sen. Moderated by Faye Ginsburg, New York University.
Saturday, October 19, 5:00 p.m.
Program 3: Documentaries
Freedom Ride (Rachel Perkins/1993/55 min/video)
The first Aboriginal to graduate from university, Charles Perkins (now deceased) came to the forefront of the early civil rights movement in Australia. Directed by his daughter, this compelling documentary combines newsreel footage and dramatic reconstructions with his son Adam taking the part of his father as a young man.
The Foundation (Troy Russell/2002/26 min/video)
The Foundation, a place in Sydney during the 1960's where you could hang out, is revisited during this period of rapid change.
Shifting Shelter 2 (Ivan Sen/2000/26 min/video)
Five years ago award-winning Aboriginal filmmaker, Ivan Sen, recorded the lives of four indigenous teenagers growing up in small towns in North Western New South Wales. In the vein of "Seven Up," Shifting Shelter 2 catches up with the four subjects, now young adults.
Saturday, October 19, 8:00 p.m.
Program 4: Feature Presentation
Fly Peewee, Fly! (Sally Riley/1995/10 min/16mm)
A series of minor crises, ending with the death of his friend the Peewee bird, makes Robbie decide to stay up in his favourite tree.
Radiance (Rachel Perkins/1998/83 min/35mm)
Adapted from Louis Nowra's play of the same name, three Aboriginal estranged half-sisters come together at their mother's funeral.
Sunday, October 20, 2:00 p.m.
Program 5: Shorts
Dust (Ivan Sen/1999/26 min/video)
Five angry people come together on a dusty, desolate cotton field, as racial tensions are ignited.
|
Road (Catriona McKenzie/2000/26 min/35mm)
A raw and gritty story of survival in the inner city.
|
|
Wind (Ivan Sen/1999/35 min/35mm)
The story of black tracker and his white sergeant on the trail of a killer in the gold rush of 1850s Australia.
|
Sunday, October 20, 5:00 p.m.
Program 6: Closing Documentaries
Ngangkari Way (Erica Glynn/2002/30 min/video)
Ngangkari's are traditional healers and Ngangkari Way is still very important to Anangu. It is a stark contrast to the western world's approach to medicine, with the Ngangkari Way shining through for both cultures. We follow three Ngnagkari's on their rounds, across many miles, using traditional medicine to keep their community well.
Whispering in Our Hearts (Mitch Torres/2002/60 min/video)
An Aboriginal community from Australia's tropical North West tells the story of the execution of family members at Mowla Bluff in 1916 by police and local pastoralists, and then return to the area where the killings took place to ceremonially put to rest the spirits of their dead. The film intertwines the oral account of tribal elders, whose parents were alive at the time of the events, with white archival records from the period..
Bush Mechanics
(David Batty & Francis Kelly/1998/26 min/video)
An early installment of this ever-popular Aboriginal-produced television series tells the larger than life legends of the outback indigenous ingenuity---Yapa men and their cars, the mechanics without a trade certificate---men who can't move mountains, but can move strange collections of nuts and bolts.
Film programs at the Asia Society are made possible by a generous grant from Dr. John C. Weber.
Related Film:
Friday, November 1, 7:00 p.m.
Yolngu Boy (Stephen Johnson/2000/88 min/35mm).
Shot in breathtaking Arnhem Land locations, three boys of the Aboriginal Yolngu people struggle to become initiated men and stay out of trouble. They embark on a trek into the Australian bush and forest that tests their sense of tradition, spirit and belonging. Courtesy of Cowboy Pictures.
|
|
