From sand to celluloid

An impressive collection of Australian short films by First Nations filmmakers which explore the history and contradictions of First Nations identity. Richard Frankland’s “No Way to Forget” is the story of a young man, working on the Royal Commission on Black Deaths in Custody, who drives home to Melbourne and is haunted by the ghosts of the dead. dead. In Sally Riley’s “Fly Peewee Fly!”, a young boy teaches his white grandmother and his Koorie father a few lessons on perspective. Rima Tamou’s “Round Up” is a tender story about two country boys who discover that their racial differences are not so acute when they are confronted with the multiculturalism and subcultures of the inner-city. In “Two Bob Mermaid” Darlene Johnson presents a beautifully filmed story about a young girl who can pass for white in a racially divided 1957 Australia. Warwick Thornton’s “Payback” presents a surreal story of a young convict who has to obey tribal lore as much as he does white law. Bill McCrow’s “Black Man Down” explores contemporary awareness of the lessons and spirituality of the past.