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Screen cap from promotional trailer
form y separately published work icon Where the Green Ants Dream single work   film/TV  
Alternative title: Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen
Note: Co-written with Werner Herzog
Issue Details: First known date: 1984... 1984 Where the Green Ants Dream
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Drama about the struggle of indigenous people to defend their sacred site and way of life against a mining company.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Noisy Silences : Complexity in Non-Indigenous Central Australian Soundscapes in the 1970s Andrew W. Hurley , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 20 no. 1 2023; (p. 137-153)

'Silence is a powerful concept that many read in stark metaphorical, binarised and/or ahistorical terms. By contrast, sound historians can show how metaphors like silence take on specific historical power, but elide complexity in the heard world, and how they change. This article uses Robyn Davidson’s popular travelogue, Tracks (1980), to investigate how the non-Indigenous meanings of the iconic motif of Central Australian silence were shifting in the 1970s, in line with acoustic ecology and second-wave feminism that positively valorised certain sorts of quiet and/or listening. But silence is multivalent and it also developed negative metaphorical connotations in the 1970s, especially as shorthand for the way many Australians had obscured Indigenous presence. By reconceiving 1970s silence as entangled with noise, we can better understand complexity and change in these non-Indigenous soundscapes.' (Publication abstract) 

(Re)Writing the End of the World : Apocalypse, Race, and Indigenous Literature Roslyn Weaver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film : A Critical Study 2011; (p. 135-158)
'This chapter addresses apocalyptic writing in the context of race, and specifically authors who rewrite Australian history as apocalypse to represent the impact of white colonization on Indigenous peoples. The disaster scenarios of apocalypse can allow minority groups to invent a new world in which to challenge and change dominant cultural constructions for widely differing agendas. The apocalyptic paradigm of revelation and disaster can work effectively to interrogate the history of colonization and relations between white and Indigenous Australians.' (136)
The Wrath of Herzog Phillip Adams , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 11- 12 June 2011; (p. 4)
The Persistent Maverick Maria Stratford , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , no. 53 2009;
Whose Dreaming? Intercultural Appropriations, Representations of Aboriginality, and the Process of Film-Making in Werner Herzog's Where the Green Ants Dream (1983) Andrew W. Hurley , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 1 no. 2 2007; (p. 175-190)

'In 1983, the German film-maker Werner Herzog realized a decade-long ambition to create a film thematizing the struggles of Aboriginal groups against mining companies in Northern Australia. Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) was ultimately reviled by Australian pundits and also disappointed international critics. However, the film and the story behind its making raise important issues, not only about the creative appropriation of Aboriginal mythology, and the filmic representation of Aboriginality and of the struggle for Aboriginal land rights, but also about the intricacies of cross-cultural collaboration. This article reveals how Herzog relied upon the first land rights court case (Milirrpum v Nabalco) in writing his film script. In doing so, he came up with a hybrid ambiguously situated between documentary and feature film, something which proved uncomfortable for the lead Aboriginal actors Wandjuk and Roy Marika, who had both been players in Milirrpum v Nabalco. This article analyses Herzog's mix of documentary and fiction, examines the film's reception-both by white Australian critics and by Aboriginal Australians-and argues that, while the film may be flawed, it is valuable because it threw (and continues to throw) light on the processes and pitfalls of cross-cultural collaboration.'

Source: Abstract.

'Superboong!...' : The Ambivalence of Comedy and Differing Histories of Race Alan McKee , 1996 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 10 no. 2 1996; (p. 44-57)
Reconciling Nicci Lane : The 'Unspeakable' Significance of Australia's First Indigenous Porn Star Andrew King , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , December vol. 19 no. 4 2005; (p. 523-543)
'This article will explore X-rated representations of Aboriginality in Australian-produced pornographic videos, particularly the image of Australia's first indigenous porn star, Nicci Lane. It investigates how pornographic natives involving 'Aboriginal' character motifs are connected to broader embodiments of Aboriginality in popular culture. Drawing from a parallel with Australian television drama and mainstream films, the article highlights how contemporary sexualised images of Aboriginal people are intimately tied to a politics of reconciliation. By surveying recent literature on pornography, which describe how certain pornographic narratives engage 'unspoken' community desires, my argument will discuss Nicci Lane's career as a unique development in the history of representations of Aboriginality. Through analysis of Lane's Arigato Baby (1991), these 'unspoken' desires relate to showing Indigenous people in everyday sexual contexts, as romantic partners, friends and lovers...' (Author's abstract p. 523)
The Wrath of Herzog Phillip Adams , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 11- 12 June 2011; (p. 4)
The Persistent Maverick Maria Stratford , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , no. 53 2009;
(Re)Writing the End of the World : Apocalypse, Race, and Indigenous Literature Roslyn Weaver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film : A Critical Study 2011; (p. 135-158)
'This chapter addresses apocalyptic writing in the context of race, and specifically authors who rewrite Australian history as apocalypse to represent the impact of white colonization on Indigenous peoples. The disaster scenarios of apocalypse can allow minority groups to invent a new world in which to challenge and change dominant cultural constructions for widely differing agendas. The apocalyptic paradigm of revelation and disaster can work effectively to interrogate the history of colonization and relations between white and Indigenous Australians.' (136)
Last amended 28 Jan 2014 11:06:51
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