Micro-docs share SA Indigenous stories
InReview
A short film exploring the importance of the Aboriginal flag and its creation in Tarndanyangga / Victoria Square is one of five South Australian “micro-docs” that will be screened on television during NAIDOC Week.
The five-minute documentaries have all been created by emerging Indigenous filmmakers through a pilot initiative supported by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), National Indigenous Television (NITV) and Adelaide’s Media Resource Centre (MRC).
“My micro-doc is about the Aboriginal flag, but it’s also about informing people,” Pascoe Braun says of his film, Symbol of Strength.
“Unfortunately, the Aboriginal flag can be polarising for people today. However, as an Indigenous person, it’s empowering and inclusive to see our flag flying next to the Australian flag in Victoria Square.”
Braun has taken a literal approach to interpreting this year’s National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week theme, We All Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate.
“There’s not as much known about the origins of the flag as there should be, so I’m hoping people will learn, respect and celebrate the flag and, through talking about it more, see the positives,” he says.
“I’ve always acknowledged that I stand on the ground of the mighty Kaurna people and I think more people need to do that, too.”
Nara Wilson (pictured below), who has made documentaries for NITV and is now a producer at Adelaide-based film production company 57 Films, says the opportunity to get Indigenous messages out through film attracted her to the micro-docs project.
“Having it open here in Adelaide is great because we don’t get the opportunity very often and it’s a platform for emerging Indigenous filmmakers to show something worthy,” she says.
Wilson wanted to use her documentary, A Time for Refection, and involvement in NAIDOC Week as a catalyst for reflection and education for those who don’t know enough about Australia’s Indigenous history.
She believes there is still much be done to further reconciliation and understanding.
“NAIDOC Week is the week where we can look at the country and review not only our past, but also where we are at present,” Wilson says.
“My documentary is about where we’ve come as a nation and where we’re going, which is hopefully towards a better future.
“[Kaurna elder] Stephen Goldsmith, who I’ve known for 10 years, is the star of my micro-doc and he takes the viewer through so much history and goes into detail about how Adelaide was built on sacred land.
“Through filming the documentary, he taught me so many things about Aboriginal history that I never even knew.”
Other micro-docs funded through the project look at topics such as the significance of Karrawirra Parri (the River Torrens) as a sacred place, the cultural significance of the sea to the Narungga people, and the importance of cultural protocol.
Each was entirely produced and edited during a one-week intensive workshop.
SA Film Corporation CEO Annabelle Sheehan says the micro-docs project is just the start of what will be an ongoing strategy to provide funding and support for South Australian Indigenous filmmaking and storytelling.
“We received very strong applications for the micro-docs initiative and are delighted to be able to support such diverse stories and filmmaking teams which will all bring to life this year’s NAIDOC theme,” she says.
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Braun believes the prospects for emerging Indigenous filmmakers are promising in South Australia, but he thinks the envelope needs to be pushed.
“Annabelle Sheehan is already producing really positive results,” he says.
“We need to capitalise on the success and attention of NAIDOC Week in South Australia and start the dialogue between Indigenous people and the film industry.
“Let’s open ourselves up to the possibility of short and long documentaries made by Indigenous people, and, dare I say it, feature films.”
The five finalists will have their micro-docs screened on National Indigenous Television during NAIDOC Week, which runs from July 5-12. The documentaries are also being screened at a special event at the Mercury Cinema on July 8.
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