Blood Brothers (film series)

Last updated

Blood Brothers
Directed by Ned Lander
Written byNed Lander
Rachel Perkins
Marcia Langton [1]
Produced byBarbara Mariotti
Ned Lander
Rachel Perkins
Jenny Day
Distributed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Release date
1993 (1993)
Running time
217 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguagesEnglish
Warlpiri

Blood Brothers is a 1993 four-part Australian documentary series that tells the stories of three different Aboriginal Australian men and an Aboriginal ceremony.

Contents

Overview

Broken English

"Broken English" is about Arrernte man Rupert Max Stuart who has always maintained his innocence of the rape and murder of a young white girl in 1958. He spent 14 years in prison and faced the gallows nine times for a crime he says he didn't commit. His story was the basis for the 2002 film Black and White. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Running time - 55 minutes. [5]

Freedom Ride

"Freedom Ride" is about Charles Perkins, one of the first Aboriginal people to graduate from university. He was also the leader of the 1965 freedom rides that challenged apartheid practices in northern NSW. [2] [4] [5] [6]

Running time - 54 minutes. [5]

From Little Things, Big Things Grow

"From Little Things, Big Things Grow" is about the life of Kev Carmody, whose 1989 album Pillars of Society established him as a prominent Australian protest musician. [2] [5] [7]

Running time - 53 minutes. [5]

Jardiwarnpa - A Warlpiri Fire Ceremony

"Jardiwarnpa - A Warlpiri Fire Ceremony" is about the staging of a Warlpiri Fire Ceremony over several weeks and involving hundreds of people at Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. [2] [5] [8]

Running time - 57 minutes. [5]

Related Research Articles

The Dreaming Sacred era in Australian Aboriginal mythology

The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his colleague Baldwin Spencer and thereafter popularised by A. P. Elkin, who, however, later revised his views. The Dreaming is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities. These figures were often distinct from gods as they did not control the material world and were not worshipped, but only revered. The concept of the Dreamtime has subsequently become widely adopted beyond its original Australian context and is now part of global popular culture.

Warlpiri people Indigenous Australian people

The Warlpiri, sometimes referred to as Yapa, are a group of Aboriginal Australians defined by their Warlpiri language, although not all still speak it. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional land in the Northern Territory, north and west of Alice Springs. About 3,000 still speak the Warlpiri language. The word "Warlpiri" has also been romanised as Walpiri, Walbiri, Elpira, Ilpara, and Wailbri.

Bush Mechanics is a humorous 2001 television docudrama series directed by David Batty and Francis Jupurrurla Kelly and produced by the Warlpiri Media Association, featuring an Aboriginal Australian take on motor mechanics, since described as "iconic". The film starred Warlpiri people and was filmed in and around Yuendumu, a large mainly Indigenous town in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Charles Perkins (Aboriginal activist) Australian Aboriginal activist and football player, coach and administrator

Charles Nelson Perkins AO, commonly known as Charlie Perkins, was an Australian Aboriginal activist, soccer player and administrator. He was the first Indigenous Australian man to graduate tertiary education, and is known for his instigation and organisation of the 1965 Freedom Ride and his key role in advocating for a "yes" vote in the Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals). He had a long career as a public servant.

Warlpiri language Aboriginal Australian language

The Warlpiri language is spoken by about 3,000 of the Warlpiri people in Australia's Northern Territory. It is one of the Ngarrkic languages of the large Pama–Nyungan family and is one of the largest Aboriginal languages in Australia in terms of number of speakers. One of the most well-known terms for The Dreaming, Jukurrpa, derives from Warlpiri.

Yuendumu Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, 293 kilometres (182 mi) northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a thriving community of Aboriginal artists. It is home to Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media, which produced the TV series Bush Mechanics.

<i>The Proposition</i> (2005 film) 2005 Motion Picture

The Proposition is a 2005 Australian Western film directed by John Hillcoat and written by screenwriter and musician Nick Cave. It stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt, Danny Huston and David Wenham. The film's production completed in 2004 and was followed by a wide 2005 release in Australia and a 2006 theatrical run in the U.S. through First Look Pictures. The film was shot on location in Winton, Queensland.

Coniston massacre

The Coniston massacre, which took place in the region around the Coniston cattle station in the then Territory of Central Australia from 14 August to 18 October 1928, was the last known officially sanctioned massacre of Indigenous Australians and one of the last events of the Australian Frontier Wars. In a series of punitive expeditions led by Northern Territory Police constable William George Murray, people of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre, and Kaytetye groups were killed. The massacre occurred in response to the murder of dingo hunter Frederick Brooks, killed by Aboriginal people in August 1928 at a place called Yukurru, also known as Brooks Soak. Official records at the time state that at least 31 people were killed, however analysis of existing documentation and Aboriginal oral histories reveal that the fatalities were likely to have been as high as 200.

Marcia Lynne Langton is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. In 2016 she became distinguished professor and in 2017, associate provost.

Kevin Daniel Carmody, better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", which was recorded with co-writer Paul Kelly for their 1993 single; it was covered by the Get Up Mob in 2008 and peaked at number four on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles charts.

From Little Things Big Things Grow song by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, released on 1991 and 1993 albums and as a single in 1993

"From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album Comedy, and by Kev Carmody on his 1993 album Bloodlines. It was released as a CD single by Carmody and Kelly in 1993 but failed to chart. The song was co-written by Kelly and Carmody, and is based on the story of the Gurindji strike and Vincent Lingiari as part of the Indigenous people's struggle for land rights in Australia and reconciliation.

Lajamanu, Northern Territory Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Lajamanu is a small town of the Northern Territory in Australia. It is located around 557 kilometres from Katherine and approximately 890 kilometres from Darwin. At the 2006 census, Lajamanu had a population of 669, of which 92 percent are of Aboriginal origin.

Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 Languages and other groupings have developed a wide range of individual cultures. Due the colonization of Australia under terra nullius concept these cultures were treated as one monoculture. Australian Aboriginal art has existed for thousands of years and ranges from ancient rock art to modern watercolour landscapes. Aboriginal music has developed a number of unique instruments. Contemporary Australian Aboriginal music spans many genres. Aboriginal peoples did not develop a system of writing before colonisation, but there was a huge variety of languages, including sign languages.

North Tanami Band are a reggae/ska band from Lajamanu, a town located about 600 km to the north of Yuendumu. The members are Warlpiri and their songs are sung in Warlpiri and English. They were the subjects of the documentary The Traveling Warlpiris (1992).

Rachel Perkins

Rachel Perkins is an Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She is known for her films Radiance (1998), One Night the Moon (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2010), and Jasper Jones (2017). Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from Central Australia, who was raised in Canberra by Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins and his wife Eileen.

Peggy Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born on what is now Tanami Downs pastoral station in the Northern Territory, she learned English when working as a child with a white mining family; Peggy Rockman and her family were subsequently relocated by government authorities to Lajamanu, a new community west of Tennant Creek. Peggy Rockman is one of the traditional owners of Tanami Downs.

Bluetongue Lizard is an old man in Australian Aboriginal mythology. He is a trickster and a powerful sorcerer, as well. The myth involving him is the wellspring of the Warlpiri fire ceremonies. He is often regarded as a deity, but this notion is not exactly true.

The 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards are a series of awards which includes the 4th AACTA Awards Luncheon, the 4th AACTA Awards ceremony and the 4th AACTA International Awards. The former two events will be held at The Star Event Centre, in Sydney, New South Wales in late January 2015. Presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), the awards will celebrate the best in Australian feature film, television, documentary and short film productions of 2014. The AACTA Awards ceremony will be televised on Network Ten for the third year running. The 4th AACTA Awards are a continuum of the Australian Film Institute Awards, established in 1958 and presented until 2010 after which it was rebranded the AACTA Awards when the Australian Film Institute (AFI) established AACTA in 2011.

Dolly Nampijinpa Daniels was an Australian Aboriginal ritual leader, Warlipiri speaker, renowned artist, and land -rights advocate for the Warlipiri people of the Northern Territory.

The Kukatja people, also written Gugadja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

References

  1. "Blood Brothers (1993 - 1993)". Screen Australia . Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Blood Brothers". National Library of Australia . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  3. "Broken English". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Blood Brothers - Documentary Series". Alistair Jones. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1993, English, Australian languages, Video, Captioned edition: Blood brothers [videorecording]". National Library of Australia . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  6. "Freedom Ride". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. "From Little Things, Big Things Grow". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. "Jardiwarnpa - A Warlpiri Fire Ceremony". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 4 January 2015.