| Our Generation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Sinem Saban Damien Curtis |
| Music by | John Butler |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
Our Generation is a 2010 Australian documentary film about the struggle of Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory to retain their land, culture and freedom. [1]
Our Generation analyzes relations between Aboriginal Australians and European Australians, from the beginning of colonisation until the present day and looks at ongoing Government policies of paternalism and forced assimilation, explores some of the issues underlying current Aboriginal disadvantage, and upholds the right of First Australians to dignity, culture and empowerment in their own country. [2]
Throughout the documentary, many opinions and testimonies from members of the Yolngu people of Northeast Arnhem Land are shared. [3] [4]
The film also shows how Kevin Rudd's 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations has done nothing to alter the Australian Government's mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians. The Australian Government continues to undermine Aboriginal people's basic human rights, continuing to prevent and restrict their involvement in decisions which affect themselves and their communities, access to basic services, the ability to retain and maintain Aboriginal languages, and the ability to remain on their ancestral homelands. [2] [3] [5]
Our Generation explores and raises awareness of some major modern issues faced by Aboriginal Australians. [4] [6]
Some of the issues presented in the film are:
Despite Australia being one of the world's richest nations, Aboriginal Australians have the worst health and living conditions of any Indigenous group in the world and they live, on average, 17 years less than non-Aboriginal Australians. In remote communities in the Northern Territory, infant mortality is three times higher than the rest of Australia and diseases that aren't often found in developed countries are widespread. [6]
The 2007 Northern Territory Intervention was a Government response to the 2007 Little Children are Sacred report on child abuse in Aboriginal communities. The policy rushed through parliament in 48 hours, and after five years of this policy being in place; the amount of child abuse has doubled, school attendance rates are lower, overall health is worse and there is a five-fold increase in the amount of suicides. The intervention will continue until at least 2021 under the Stronger Futures policy. [6]
In 2009, the Australians Government introduced the Working Futures policy, which aims to move Aboriginal Australians away from the Homelands or Outstations, which were built to enable Aboriginal Australians to live in the same areas as their ancestors, and into larger and often overcrowded townships. [6]
School attendance rates in the Northern Territory are the lowest in Australia and Aboriginal schools, especially those in remote areas, are the most under resourced. To improve school attendance rates and education quality, many Aboriginal people have requested to be more involved in the creation of culturally appropriate curricula for their children.
Recent Northern Territory government policies have led to many Aboriginal languages no longer being taught in schools. [6]
The Australian Government's treatment of Aboriginal Australians has been condemned by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, James Anaya in 2009, and again by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay in 2011. An Amnesty International campaign has been created to challenge the Government's homelands policy. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
To achieve genuine Reconciliation, it is noted that non-Aboriginal Australians will need to have more awareness of Aboriginal Australian cultures. [6]
Aboriginal society has long had a complex system of Law and Governance which is different and often at odds with the Westminster system introduced by Europeans. Non-Aboriginal Australians failing to respect the importance of traditional law is a major contributor to the current lawlessness and social breakdown in Aboriginal communities. [6]
The Australian Constitution which came into effect in 1901 permits racial discrimination and also makes no mention of the human rights of Aboriginal Australians. In January 2012, a Government appointed Expert Panel on Constitutional Reform recommended that the Constitution should recognise Aboriginal people as the First Australians, that their cultures and languages should be respected, and that racial discrimination should not be permitted. In order for changes to be made to the Constitution, it must achieve a double majority in a National Referendum. [6] [11] [12]
Unlike the United States, Canada and New Zealand, no treaty was ever negotiated between Indigenous Australians and European settlers. During the European colonisation of Australia, settlers avoided signing treaties by claiming that Australia was terra nullius , or uninhabited when they arrived. Many Aboriginal people feel that their sovereignty was not and still is not respected and that a treaty should be created. [6]
Our Generation was created as a response to the Howard government's controversial ‘Emergency Intervention’ into remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and the lack of mainstream media coverage of the voices and plight of people in these communities. [2] [13] [14] The intervention, which was supposedly undertaken solely to protect children from abuse, saw the removal of all existing Aboriginal land rights, the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, and more than 70 Aboriginal communities being placed under compulsory government control, all without consulting or gaining consent from any of the people in these communities. [2]
Production began without a script or a pre-determined story. The filmmakers talked with many Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory, and after 3 years they had compiled over 200 hours of footage. After the rough cut was completed, the film was screened in many community centres across Northeast Arnhem Land. [4]
According to Director Sinem Saban, the film's style was inspired by Michael Moore's documentary Bowling For Columbine. [3]
Australian musician John Butler has stated, "[Our Generation] is an important film that everyone needs to see. It will change your life." [4] [5] [15]
Cathy Henkel, director of The Burning Season noted that "if ever Australia had an Inconvenient Truth, this is it. Our Generation is a highly emotional, powerful journey into territory that we have chosen too long to ignore... This is a film every Australian needs to see." [4] [5]
Australian journalist John Pilger, who has himself made several documentaries on the subject, observed:
"Our Generation is a very fine piece of work. It's truthful, eloquent and, above all, it explains very clearly to first-timers and the many who need reminding why the Indigenous people of Australia are once again being defrauded of their human and political rights in a country calling itself a democracy."
(As themselves)
| Country | Network(s)/Station(s) |
|---|---|
| Australia | NITV [18] |
| Ceremony | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| London International Documentary Festival | Best Campaign Film | Won [15] |
| 2011 Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Nominated [15] |
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals of those referred to as "half-caste" children were conducted in the period between approximately 1905 and 1967, although in some places mixed-race children were still being taken into the 1970s.
Australian Indigenous sovereignty, also recently termed Blak sovereignty, encompasses the various rights claimed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within Australia. Such rights are said to derive from Indigenous peoples' occupation and ownership of Australia prior to colonisation and through their continuing spiritual connection to land. Indigenous sovereignty is not recognised in the Australian Constitution or under Australian law.
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km (310 mi) from the territorial capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Company captain Willem Joosten van Colster sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Arnhem is named after his ship, the Arnhem, which itself was named after the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Galarrwuy Yunupingu, also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, was an Indigenous Australian activist who was a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community. He was involved in Indigenous land rights throughout his career. He was a Yolngu man of the Gumatj clan, from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. He was the 1978 Australian of the Year.
Larissa Yasmin Behrendt is an Australian legal academic, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate. As of 2022 she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, and holds the inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at UTS.
Marcia Lynne Langton is an Aboriginal Australian writer and academic. As of 2022 she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Langton is known for her activism in the Indigenous rights arena.
An outstation, homeland or homeland community is a very small, often remote, permanent community of Aboriginal Australian people connected by kinship, on land that often, but not always, has social, cultural or economic significance to them, as traditional land. The outstation movement or homeland movement refers to the voluntary relocation of Aboriginal people from towns to these locations.
Indigenous Australian self-determination, also known as Aboriginal Australian self-determination, is the power relating to self-governance by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. It is the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to determine their own political status and pursue their own economic, social and cultural interests. Self-determination asserts that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should direct and implement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy formulation and provision of services. Self-determination encompasses both Aboriginal land rights and self-governance, and may also be supported by a treaty between a government and an Indigenous group in Australia.
Rosalie Lynette Kunoth-Monks, also known as Ngarla Kunoth, was an Australian film actress, Aboriginal activist and politician.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week NITV News Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, which includes many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea, located in Melanesia.
Little Children are Sacred, or Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle, is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, chaired by Rex Wild and Patricia Anderson. Commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, the report was publicly released on 15 June 2007.
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" was a package of measures enforced by legislation affecting Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, which lasted from 2007 until 2012. The measures included restrictions on the consumption of alcohol and pornography, changes to welfare payments, and changes to the delivery and management of education, employment and health services in the Territory.
Malarndirri Barbara Anne McCarthy is an Indigenous Australian politician and former journalist who has been a Senator for the Northern Territory since 2016. She is the Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Albanese Government since 29 July 2024. She previously served in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
Bess Nungarrayi Price is an Aboriginal Australian activist and politician. She was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2016, representing the electorate of Stuart, and was Minister for Community Services in the Giles Ministry. She lives in Alice Springs in Central Australia, in the Northern Territory.
The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples was the national representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians from 2009 to 2019.
The Stronger Futures policy was a multifaceted social policy of the Australian government concerning the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory. It was underpinned by the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012, which ceased 10 years after its commencement on 29 June 2012.
Utopia is a 2013 documentary film written, produced and presented by John Pilger and directed by Pilger and Alan Lowery, that explores the experiences of Aboriginal Australians in modern Australia. The title is derived from the Aboriginal homeland community of Utopia, Northern Territory, one of the poorest and most desolate areas in Australia.
Patricia Audrey Anderson is an Australian human rights advocate and health administrator. An Alyawarre woman from the Northern Territory, she is well known internationally as a social justice advocate, advocating for improved health, educational, and protection outcomes for Indigenous Australian children.
Seed Mob, officially Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network Ltd and also known simply as Seed, is an independent Indigenous youth climate network in Australia. Established in 2014, it is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and relies on donations by supporters and partners who align with their values. In 2018 Seed released the documentary film Water is Life, which highlighted the dangers of fracking in the Northern Territory.
