From the land of Oz

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of aboriginals are tribal men with spears in their hands, killing kangaroos. Such is the image that has been created over the years by television shows and movies. Australian director-producer Martin Butler spent three years studying the archeological history of the population so as to show the world the real picture. 

Through his movie First Footprints, he traces the journey of the aboriginals of Australia and how they lived before the invasion of the Euporeans. It was the richness and the complexity of the aboriginals that set them apart. “I think that because of the English, most people visualise aboriginals as people who live in the deserts and hunt kangaroos with spears. The reality of it is that it is far more complex and sophisticated than that. They had a sound knowledge of the land around them and the way they deliberately manage to produce their food is an astounding story,” he said.

Butler told us that they survived 50,000 years through terrible droughts, cold, harsh weather and calamities in a way which was completely sustainable into the future. If the Europeans had not arrived they would still be living absolutely, comfortably and sustainably in their environment. “Their settlement was challenged when the Europeans came in. Most of the decline happened immediately because of the diseases that they brought in that killed off a chunk of the population which is estimated at 60 per cent within a decade or two. It was mainly small pox but there were other diseases, too. That was the biggest impact in decline, it was immediate and devastating,” he pointed out.

But now situations have recovered a bit. Now in some parts of Australia, geographically large parts, they speak their language and in some communities they follow their own tradition. There are schools and they buy their food from shops, even though their traditional cultures survives. The elements of decline now are going in reverse. My hope is that fantastic, rich heritage will be incorporated into the Australian national psyche. 

“It was a very big and ambitious project from the start,” he said, because he wanted to tell the entire history of aboriginal presence in Australia from the very beginning till the arrival of the Europeans. “There was a lot to tell,” he added, “the last two years have been an explosion of knowledge — of archeological and ancient history of the country. Moreover, it has never been made for television before. We discovered that there is a history which is unknown to the people of Australia.”

But it took him and his crew a longer time to make it. To stay true to their purpose of telling their tale, they learnt the archeologoical signs and geography. “The archeologists who helped us were very generous with their time and gave us all the knowledge that they had. It was a great learning from our part. Infact, there was also a lot of science that we learnt in the process. And we also made contact with about 18 or 20 aboriginal communities all around the country.”

After reading a detailed archeological history, they identified key sites and contacted those communities. “But often they are extremely remote — no telephone contact, no email. It was very hard to get in touch with them and make an agreement. So we had to travel all over the country to make contact and get the permission to do the film,” said Butler feeling happy about the fact that the movie will be screened as part of the Australian Film Festival, beginning Thursday at the India International Centre. 

Also part of the festival will be two short films from renowned Australian producer-director Pat Fiske titled love Stories in Kabul and Scarlet Road. The common thread that we found in both her prodctions, was the presence of a very strong female protagonist.  She is always on the look out for interesting ideas irrespective of whether she is directing or producing it. “I do not like to spend two or four years working on something that I do not feel passionate about. So if a subject does not interest me, I do not take it on or put it on the back burner,” she said. 

Scarlet Rose is the story of a sex worker living in Sydney who specialises on people with disabilities and she is an amazing character. She fights for the rights of those like her all over the world and has an organisation called Touching Base which has many roles but they teach other sex workers how to work with people with disabilities. People with disabilities can contact them and they find a sex worker, they also train nurses, doctors and social workers. It shows how beneficial sex can really be for such people. 

love Marriage in Kabul narrated the story of Mahboba Rawi, a strong-willed Afghan-Australian woman who has a charity called Mehbooba’s promise which raises money to support orphanages and widows. She does so because when their husbands die, their families do not accept them anymore and they have no way of earning a livelihood. “I take interest people are passionate and are doing something to change their community, their society or the world,” explained the producer. 

Fiske told us that it is hard for film makers to raise money in Australia and it is getting increasingly harder. “There are fundings from the Government but there is a stiff competition because of the rise in the number of film schools training budding filmmakers. And the television stations aren’t programming many documentaries any more. They are more interested in reality shows,” she said. 

According to Butler, Australia is a very competitive market but there are not many strong filmmakers. “I think the few who are there, take interest in really good subjects, they choose really good subjects. So in a way, that’s why Australian documentaries are making an impact internationally because they tend to be well made. We have a good film industry in the country but there is not enough funding to aide good projects. Even then, there are makers who are passionate about what they want to do and they will go to the end to be able to fund it themselves. Sometimes, some projects are also crowd-funded.”