Natasha Wanganeen

Last updated

Natasha Wanganeen
Born (1984-06-20) 20 June 1984 (age 39)
Point Pearce, South Australia, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, producer
Years active2001–present
Relatives Gavin Wanganeen, Trevor Jamieson
Awards AFI Young Actor's Award, 2004

Natasha Wanganeen (born 20 June 1984) is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film Rabbit-Proof Fence , aged 15, and numerous television roles. Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short film, an Indigenous sci-fi drama entitled Bunker: The Last Fleet, about an alien invasion of Australia, in which she also takes the lead role.

Contents

Early life

Wanganeen was born in Point Pearce, South Australia, moving to Port Adelaide when she was five years old. [1] She is a Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar woman. [2]

Career

Wanganeen appeared in Rabbit-Proof Fence (released 2002), playing a dormitory boss [2] at the age of fifteen, [3] and the made-for-TV film Jessica directed by Peter Andrikidis and released in 2004.

In 2017, she starred as a zombie-killer [2] in the dystopian thriller Cargo . [3] [2] Also in 2017, she played the role of Gilyagan in Kate Grenville's play The Secret River presented during the Adelaide Festival in March, having previously played a different role in the 2015 two-part TV series of the same name. [4]

She played Mary, mother of a talented gymnast, in feature film A Second Chance: Rivals! , released in 2019, [5] [6] and in the same year played a ghoul in the horror film Dark Place . [2]

In June 2020, Wanganeen was writing a script for her own independent film, Battle of the Ancestors, set 60,000 years ago against a backdrop of Aboriginal mythology, including Dreamtime stories and characters she knows from here childhood years. She is being supported by Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation in this endeavour, and is in talks with local production companies who are interested in seeing it made. [2]

Wanganeen was on the jury for the Feature Fiction and Documentary awards at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival. [7] [8]

Television roles include playing Mary Ann Bugg, a late 19th-century bushranger, in Drunk History Australia (Network 10, 2020) and a chef in Aftertaste (Closer Productions/ABC Comedy, 2021). She plays a government official in 2067 , a sci-fi thriller feature film directed by Seth Larney released in 2020. [8] [9]

Originally intended as a sci-fi series, [2] Bunker: The Last Fleet, co-written by Wanganeen, Stephen Potter, and Rowan Pullen, directed by the latter two, and co-produced by the three of them and others, [10] was inspired by Afrofuturism. [2] It was first released as a short film, with the intention of growing into a feature film. It had its Australian premiere at the St Kilda Film Festival in June 2022, with multiple screenings following around Australia (including Revelation Perth International Film Festival and Adelaide Film Festival) and internationally. Wanganeen plays Tjarra, an Aboriginal warrior in Australia 37 years in the future, and Kaurna elder Uncle Fred Agius plays the role of an elder. Trevor Jamieson (who is a cousin) gave cultural advice and also plays a role in the film. [11] The film was filmed entirely in the South Australian desert. [12] As the first Aboriginal sci-fi move, it is described as a "cheeky take on the First Fleet in Australia". [11]

In 2023, she appeared in Ivan Sen's mystery, crime drama Limbo , which was nominated in 'competition section' at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, to be held from February 16 to 26, 2023. [13]

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleType
2002 Rabbit Proof Fence Nina, Dormitory BossFeature film
Australian Rules Nunga family member (uncredited)Feature film
Black and White Extra (uncredited)Feature film
2017 Cargo Josie Bell, a zombieFeature film
2018KonyaAngelicaShort film
WildRosieShort film
White LiesNurse LilianShort film
2019 Storm Boy Susan FranklinFeature film
Dark Place GhoulSegment: Killer Native
A Second Chance: Rivals! MaryFeature film
2020WaiyiriLacardiShort film
2067 Government OfficialFeature film
A Sunburnt Christmas NurseFeature film
2021DjaambiTjarrahShort film
2022 Fate of the Night KateFeature film
Bunker: The Last Fleet TjarraShort film
The Survival of Kindness Waiting WomanFeature film
2023 Limbo EmmaFeature film

Television

YearTitleRoleType
2004 Jessica Mary SimpsonMiniseries
Through My Eyes InterpreterMiniseries, 2 episodes
2007Sacred GroundNarratorDocumentary
2013 Redfern Now EmilyTV series, 1 episode
2015 The Secret River
2017Lost in PronunciationWoman in pubTV series, 1 episode
2018SistersOnline miniseries
2019Lucy and DICChristinaTV series, 8 episodes
2020 Drunk History Australia Mary Ann Bugg TV series, 1 episode
2021 Aftertaste Line CookTV series, 1 episode
2021-22 Firebite RonaTV series, 8 episodes
2022 The Tourist CCTV Gift Shop EmployeeTV series, 2 episodes
MaveriX Trish PetersonTV series, 6 episodes
The Australian Wars Enslaved WomanMiniseries, 1 episode

Theatre

YearTitleRoleVenue
2017 The Secret River Gillyagan Adelaide Festival

Awards

Activism

In 2018, Wanganeen advocated for greater cultural diversity in Australian screen culture, saying "There are not enough black faces on our screens and talking about it is a constructive conversation that we need to have". [15] She expressed her pleasure at the portrayal of Aboriginal people in Cargo (2017) as "living free and strong on the land". [16]

Wanganeen was one of the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest in Adelaide on 6 June 2020, which focussed on racism and injustices against Indigenous Australians, in particular high rates of incarceration and Aboriginal deaths in custody. [17] [18]

Personal life

As of 2017 Wanganeen lives in Port Adelaide. She is related to Australian rules footballer Gavin Wanganeen, [4] and actor and playwright Trevor Jamieson is a cousin. [11]

Related Research Articles

Gavin Adrian Wanganeen is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and also for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

The Kaurna people are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna culture and language were almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the British colonisation of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture. The phrase Kaurna meyunna means "Kaurna people".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide Film Festival</span> Film festival in Adelaide, South Australia

The Adelaide Film Festival is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October. Subject to funding, the festival has staged full or briefer events in alternating years; some form of event has taken place every year since 2015. From 2022 it takes place annually. It has a strong focus on local South Australian and Australian produced content, with the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF) established to fund investment in Australian films.

Nunga is a term of self-identification for Aboriginal Australians, originally used by Aboriginal people in the southern settled areas of South Australia, and now used throughout Adelaide and surrounding towns. It is used by contrast with Gunya, which refers to non-Aboriginal persons. The use of "Nunga" by non-Aboriginal people is not always regarded as appropriate.

Kaurna is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own parnkarra district of land and local dialect. These dialects were historically spoken in the area bounded by Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, Cape Jervis in the south, and just over the Mount Lofty Ranges. Kaurna ceased to be spoken on an everyday basis in the 19th century and the last known native speaker, Ivaritji, died in 1929. Language revival efforts began in the 1980s, with the language now frequently used for ceremonial purposes, such as dual naming and welcome to country ceremonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Australian Film Corporation</span>

South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed by the South Australian Film Corporation for the use of the South Australian film industry.

The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music and storytelling. It is the oldest Aboriginal-owned and -run cultural centre in Australia.

Point Pearce, also spelt Point Pierce in the past, is a town in the Australian state of South Australia. The town is located in the Yorke Peninsula Council local government area, 194 kilometres (121 mi) north-west of the state capital, Adelaide.

Here I Am is a 2011 Australian drama film written and directed by Beck Cole.

Lily Sullivan is an Australian actress. She played Coral in the 2012 film Mental, and Miranda in the 2018 television series Picnic at Hanging Rock. She plays leading roles in two 2023 feature films, Australian sci-fi thriller Monolith, and American horror film Evil Dead Rise.

Tilda Cobham-Hervey is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in 52 Tuesdays, a critically-acclaimed independent film directed by Sophie Hyde, and has also appeared on stage. She appeared in the 2018 film Hotel Mumbai, and starred as feminist icon Helen Reddy in the 2019 biopic I Am Woman. In 2023 she starred in the Amazon Prime TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Jamieson</span> Australian actor, singer, dancer and playwright

Trevor Jamieson is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alitya Rigney</span>

Alitya Wallara Rigney, née Richards,, also knowns as Aunty Alice, was an Australian Aboriginal scholar. She was a Kaurna elder and part of the team that revived the Kaurna language.

<i>I Am Mother</i> 2019 film by Grant Sputore

I Am Mother is a 2019 Australian cyberpunk thriller film directed by Grant Sputore, from a screenplay by Michael Lloyd Green, based on a story by both. Starring Clara Rugaard, Luke Hawker, Rose Byrne, and Hilary Swank, the film follows Daughter, a girl in a post-apocalyptic bunker, being raised by Mother, a robot aiding the repopulation of Earth. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2019. Netflix released it in several countries on 7 June 2019.

Tarnanthi is a Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art held in Adelaide, South Australia, annually. Presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in association with the South Australian Government and BHP. It is curated by Nici Cumpston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivaritji</span> Kaurna elder, Kaurna language speaker and weaver

Ivaritji also spelt Iparrityi and other variations, and also known as Amelia Taylor and Amelia Savage, was an elder of the Kaurna tribe of Aboriginal Australians from the Adelaide Plains in South Australia. She was "almost certainly the last person of full Kaurna ancestry", and the last known speaker of the Kaurna language before its revival in the 1990s.

<i>2067</i> (film) 2020 film

2067 is a 2020 Australian science fiction film directed and written by Seth Larney from a treatment by Gavin Scott Davis, and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten.

Dark Place is a 2019 Australian horror anthology film. The shorts in the film were written and directed by Indigenous filmmakers Kodie Bedford, Perun Bonser, Rob Braslin, Liam Phillips, and Bjorn Stewart. All five shorts centre on Aboriginal peoples and the long-reaching impact of colonialism in Australia.

Elaine Crombie is an Aboriginal Australian actress, known for her work on stage and television. She is also a singer, songwriter, comedian, writer and producer.

David Jowsey is an Australian film producer, co-founder of Bunya Productions. He is known for producing many films made by Indigenous Australian filmmakers. Bunya Productions' co-owners are Indigenous filmmaker Ivan Sen, and Jowsey's wife Greer Simpkin.

References

  1. 1 2 "Natasha Wanganeen". Deadly Vibe (94). 30 November 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Skujins, Angela (16 June 2020). "'Bunker: The Last Fleet' imagines a dystopian Australian future through an Indigenous lens". CityMag. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 Wanganeen, Natasha (3 January 2019). "Top Shelf: Natasha Wanganeen" (audio & text). Radio National (The Screen Show) (Interview). Interviewed by Di Rosso, Jason. Originally aired 12 July 2018. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Mother of all roles for actress". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Osborne, Kayla (16 September 2019). "Budding Glen Alpine actress scores first role in a feature film". Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "A Second Chance: Rivals! (2019) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "Jury". Adelaide Film Festival. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  8. 1 2 Groves, Don (21 September 2020). "Natasha Wanganeen looks for strong, powerful roles". IF Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  9. ↑ Keen, Suzie (8 October 2020). "Sci-fi thriller 2067 mixes adventure with some big questions". InDaily. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Bunker: The Last Fleet at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  11. 1 2 3 Vann-Wall, Silvi (1 June 2022). "Natasha Wanganeen on Bunker, The Last Fleet: 'Sci-fi films saved my life'". ScreenHub Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  12. ↑ Kelly, Vivienne (28 April 2022). "'Bunker: The Last Fleet' to Premiere at St Kilda Film Festival". Variety Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Kelly, Vivienne (19 August 2022). "'Limbo' Starring Simon Baker Starts Filming in South Australia". Variety . Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Natasha Wanganeen - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Natasha Wanganeen questions diversity on Australian screens". SBS Your Language. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "Outback Australia after the plague". Eureka Street. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  17. ↑ Wedding, Nicole. "Gallery: Moments From Adelaide's Black Lives Matter Rally". Broadsheet. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  18. ↑ Skujins, Angela (9 June 2020). "'You're going to hear us – really hear us'". CityMag. Photos by Jack Fenby, Tim Lyons and Dimitra Koriozos. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
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