- Title
- Representations of Aborigines in Australian documentary film 1901 - 2009
- Creator
- Debenham, Jennifer Anne
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This thesis examines the ways in which Indigenous Australians have been represented in twelve documentary films made in Australia between 1901 and 2009. As historical artifacts, the films examined provide an emblematic visual representation of the scientific, political and social debates about Indigenous Australians that were in play when they were produced. The purpose of the thesis is threefold: to explore the role of documentary film in representing Australia’s Indigenous peoples to a dominant white Australian audience over a long period of time; to trace the ways changes in film and camera technology, policy making and social attitudes have collectively altered the relationship that Indigenous Australians have with documentary film as a medium of communication; and to demonstrate how changes in the process of making documentary films over the past century has been a force for both change and empowerment for Indigenous Australians. Although, some of the earliest documentary films made in Australia were about Indigenous Australians, as a collection they have not been the subject of serious study. Making films about Indigenous Australians initially had close connections with science, both natural and medical. This helped to re-enforce and sanctify the ‘objectification’ of Indigenous Australians as subjects of scientific enquiry within the context of the discourse of Social Darwinism. The visual images contributed to their positioning as the anthropological Other in which they were considered as outside of history; an image that is now under challenge by contemporary Indigenous filmmakers. It was not until the middle of the twentieth century that Indigenous Australians began to emerge from these ethnographic narratives. Documentary films made from that time began to recognise that Indigenous Australians were living in the political and social present. Public perceptions about how Indigenous Australians were coping with the dispossession of their traditional lands and living at the interface of two ideologically opposed cultures were dramatically challenged. As changes in perception continued to shift in the 1970s and 1980s, astute white documentary filmmakers began to collaborate with Indigenous people to make films about their lives. These filmmakers recognised that Indigenous Australians had a lot to talk about and with access to funding available from recently established public instrumentalities, filmmaking about Indigenous Australians reflected the changing attitudes about Australia’s Aboriginal people. By the latter years of the twentieth century, a vibrant and dynamic Indigenous film industry was emerging in Australia. With Indigenous filmmakers and technical experts in control of film production, white Australians have been witness to further shifts in the ways in which Indigenous Australians are represented on film. Indigenous filmmakers with a more intimate understanding of cultural protocols and with a high degree of social investment are taking on the responsibility of representing the Indigenous perspective on film. They have taken the medium that once positioned them as a people on the brink of extinction and are now demonstrating their acuity and skill with the visual medium. Their innovative and dynamic approach to the craft defies earlier preconceptions of a primitive and static culture unable to participant in a modern Australia.
- Subject
- documentary film; Aboriginal Australians; filmic representation; Indigenous filmmakers; Australia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1038027
- Identifier
- uon:13508
- Rights
- Copyright 2013 Jennifer Anne Debenham
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Abstract | 151 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Thesis | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |