image of person or book cover 447380398409463854.jpg
Screen cap from opening credits
form y separately published work icon Black Man Down single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 1996... 1996 Black Man Down
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A journey into the very core of the Aboriginal psyche, Black Man Down takes us into the realm of a troubled young warrior who has been beaten at a protest rally, and subsequently locked up by the police. Sitting alone in the cell he is watched by a dreamtime spirit when death comes calling.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

      c
      Australia,
      c
      :
      1996 .
      Link: U9716Two digital extracts from the original cinematic release. Australian Screen (Sighted 29/04/10)
      Extent: 10 minp.
      Description: 10 min. ; colour
      Note/s:
      • Made in association with SBS Independent for Creative Nation; produced in association with Film Queensland [and the] Australian Film Commission.
      • Red Movies produced this film for the Indigenous Branch of The Australian Film Commission.
      Series: form y separately published work icon From Sand to Celluloid Australian Film Commission. Indigenous Branch , Film Australia (publisher), SBS (publisher), Canberra Australia Lindfield : Australian Film Commission SBS Television Film Australia , 1996 Z1583394 1996 series - publisher film/TV (taught in 3 units)

      An initiative of the Indigenous Branch of the Australian Film Commission (AFC), From Sand to Celluloid comprises six films that have been packaged and distributed by Australian Film Institute Distribution (AFID) and Film Australia. The initial conception for the series came from the Indigenous Drama Initiative, set in 1994 with the express intention of advancing the development and production of films created by Indigenous Australians and increasing their participation in all areas of the film and television industry. The first project initiated was the development and production of six ten-minute dramas for television. Expressions of interest were called for from Indigenous Australians nationally. The ten applicants chosen (from forty seven) attended a visual storytelling workshop held in Melbourne in 1995. The Initiative utilised the assistance of all the state film assistance agencies and a pre-sale from SBS with an agreement to broadcast on SBS in July 1996, as well as the full participation of Film Australia through its funding of one of the productions. Five projects were further selected to go into production, along with Sally Riley's film Fly Peewee Fly (produced by Film Australia), and were delivered to the AFC on 30 March, 1996. Indigenous Australians were employed in both cast and crew positions.

      In order to encourage a wider recognition and appreciation of the work of Indigenous Australians, the AFC supported the national distribution and exhibition of the films through the Australian Film Institute Distribution (AFID). AFID distributed the films as a package under the title of From Sand to Celluloid and the films screened at twenty-four locations, from as far afield as Cooper Pedy in South Australia to Broome in Western Australia, and were attended by a total of approximately 7,200 people.

      As a unified collection, the films offer more than a two-dimensional victim-oppressor approach. They challenge viewers at all levels: as fellow citizens, as parents, as observers, and as fellow members of Indigenous communities. From Sand to Celluloid challenges viewers with many uncomfortable aspects of Australia's too-recent history. These include the active discrimination practised against Indigenous people in public places such as swimming pools and cinemas in country towns around Australia and the 'stolen generation': children taken away without their parents' consent and placed into homes or in white foster homes, with devastating effect on them and their families. The series is an essential resource for Indigenous studies, Australian history film studies, English legal studies, human relationship courses, and social studies.

      [Source: Australian Film Commission, http://www.afc.gov.au/archive/annrep/ar95_96/indig.html]

Works about this Work

Indigenous Film Makers will Show Their Stuff 1996 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 13 March no. 121 1996; (p. 3)
Indigenous Film Makers will Show Their Stuff 1996 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 13 March no. 121 1996; (p. 3)
Last amended 1 Dec 2019 10:33:45
X