Australian Films to focus on its Indigenous people

The Australian Indigenous film package in the coming edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala is a sure point of attraction.  The films are either portrayed on the life of Australia’s indigenous people or are directed by the native directors. These films are plotted on the ethnic conflicts and relation between the tribes and the mainstream society in Australia. These films will help the audience to gain a deep insight into the primitive tribal culture and patrimony of the Australian indigenous people.

These films proclaim that aboriginal people of the Torres Strait Island are sensible, harmless and are not mysterious groups. As the Australian tribal groups are set aside from the main stream, their films are facing the same crisis.

Tracey Moffatt directed Bedevil, Rachel Perkins’ One Night the Moon, Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoes, Warwick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah, Ivan Sen’s Toomelah, Beck Cole’s Here I Am, Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires and Phillip Noyce’s The Rabbit Proof Fence are the films in this package.

Cultural schizophrenia is at the core of Bedevil, a trilogy of Australian ghost stories directed by Tracey Moffatt. This was also the first feature film of Moffatt. The film was screened in Cannes Film Festival and received great appreciation.  One Night the moon directed by Rachel Perkins dramatically elaborates the life of a white-peasant family of 1930s and the socio-racial relations of that time.

Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoes tells two stories, one in color and the other in black and white. This film is different from the usual Hollywood action packed films and had been the inspiration for eight more films which choose the same narrative style. The film on the true life of indigenous humans dated thousand years back contains male nudity and simple humorous scenes.

Story of two lovers in the mid-Australian deserts is the theme of Samson and Delilah directed by Warwick Thornton. A tribal boy falling into the hand of local drug agents and issues arising in his life is the storyline of Ivan Sen directed Toomelah. Ivan Sen has been the recipient of best film in the 2002 Berlin Film Festival.

The Rabbit Proof Fence is director Philip Noyce noted film which he made after his return from the Hollywood. The film is the big screen version of writer Doris Pilkington Garimara’s book ‘Follow the rabbit fence’. The story is about three girls who are forced to move 2000 kilometers away from home for work. But later they escape from the workplace because of the hardship they had to face there and return to their mothers. Three girls have to travel through the most unfriendly and harsh places and the only way to reach home are to follow the ‘rabbit proof fence’. Rabbit proof fence are the fences that are erected on the boundaries of the counties in Australia.

 These films will be a visual experience for the Indian film makers and film lover about the endeavors in Australia to safeguard their traditions and cultural values.