How Aboriginal film evolved over different periods
Uncivilised" (1930s-1950s)
This period focuses on the conflict between white settlers and Aboriginal people who are portrayed as 'black devils', violent, uncivilised, murderers and an inferior race. Aboriginal Australians on film are often played by non-Aboriginal people in blackface.
Examples: Uncivilised (Chauvel 1936), Bitter Springs (Smart 1950), Jedda (Chauvel 1955)
Mysterious and misunderstood (1970s)
Aboriginal characters start playing a greater role in films. Films present them as helpful, kind and knowledge-keepers of the land. But they appear separated from both non-Aboriginal actors and audience, and presented as mysterious and misunderstood. During this period the first films shot by Aboriginal directors (who are often young and fiery activists) appear, discussing social and political Aboriginal issues.
Examples: Walkabout (Roeg 1971), Ningla A-Na (Cavadini 1972), Blackfire (McGuiness 1972), Stormboy (Safran 1976), Backroads (Noyce 1977), My Survival as an Aboriginal (Coffey 1979)
White Australia's black history (1980s) White Australia has a black history
In the 1980s the Australian public - and with them non-Aboriginal directors - started to wake up to the fact that Aboriginal history since white settlement was more complicated and shocking than they had acknowledged: Stolen land, stolen wages, stolen children, massacres, deliberate poisoning, abuse and discrimination in all forms.
Examples: Lousy Little Sixpence (Morgan 1982), Crocodile Dundee (Cornell 1985), Always Was, Always Will Be (McGrady 1987), Australia Daze (Fiske 1988)
Terra Populus (1990s) Terra Nullius Defined
The struggle of Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo to have his rights to ancestral land recognised, and the subsequent 1992 Mabo ruling of the High Court exposed the myth of 'terra nullius', and recognised the rights of Aboriginal people to land. The Mabo Case influenced the portrayal of land in many films that followed.
Other films assert the impact of activists on government policy and the Australian public's perception of Aboriginal issues.
Examples: Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (Moffat 1990), Tent Embassy (Peters-Little 1992), Vacant Possession (Nash 1994), The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Elliot 1994), Mabo: Life of an Island Man (Graham 1997), Radiance (Perkins 1998)
Reconciliation efforts (2000s)
Mainstream television, notably ABC and SBS, broadcast or help produce more films that address Aboriginal issues and experiences and what it means to be Aboriginal in contemporary Australia. Some have become classics of this time. It is also a time where films start laying bare Australia's racist past and the abuse of Aboriginal people, making audiences identify with Aboriginal characters, even if this meant siding against the white characters.
Aboriginal directors use film and television to document their cultures, promote social change and to entertain.
Examples: Land Of The Little Kings (Kootji Rayond 2000), Yolngu Boy (Johnson 2000), Australian Rules (Goldman 2002), The Tracker (de Heer 2002), Beneath Clouds (Sen 2002), Rabbit Proof Fence (Noyce 2002), Ten Canoes (de Heer 2006), Samson and Delilah (Thornton 2009), Bran Nue Dae (Perkins 2009)