Analysis Of Australian Blak Wave: Self-Presentation Of The Indigenous People

Australian Blak Wave: Self-presentation of the Indigenous People

Films: Sweet Country (2017) and Samson and Delilah (2009)

Quotations

“In challenging the past and the present implications of colonization, indigenous peoples have utilized different art forms as modes of expression. This has allowed for the critique of the hegemonic structures within the society, enabled indigenous self-representation to find at least a foothold within the modern society...” (Blackmore, 2015).

“Despite their popularity among filmmakers and audiences, horror movies, in particular, have existed at the margins of Australian screen culture, largely ignored by public funding agencies, and either overlooked or despised by mainstream Critics” (Howell, 2017).

Introduction

Black wave films are a method of activism by indigenous film directors as they use these films for self-presentation (Krausz, 2003). Using indigenous movie actors, these films can show the problems that are facing the indigenous peoples while showing how the government has failed to help them. These problems include poverty, rape, brutality, loss of land, unfair criminal justice, drug addiction, trauma, and also lack of employment. Sam Kelly and his family are working for Harry and they live in poverty with no beds to sleep on (30.12.00). Even so, they face the aggression of Harry who shoots bullets at the door recklessly and furiously such that they have to defend

Through the film industry, the indigenous peoples can express their culture thus educating people about their land, food, family, and beliefs. Through film, indigenous people are also able to express the problems that they are facing and what they want to be done. The films Sweet Country and Samson and Delilah both are tools of self-expression but the indigenous people are through their directors (Ryan-Fazilleau, 2011). They show the land which once belonged to the Aboriginal people, the work they do, their food, their problems, and the justice system (Walker, 1994). The film Sweet County shows two conflicting societies which are the indigenous people and the white people. The problems expressed include drug addiction, unemployment, strict government control, loss of land, poor working conditions, poverty, mistreatment in workplaces, rape, brutality, and