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form y separately published work icon Benny and the Dreamers single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Benny and the Dreamers
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A small group of Pintupi living in west Central Australia today can remember their first meeting with a white man, their first impressions of the white man's world and their expectations of what the white world had to offer.

Benny and The Dreamers reveals for the first time on film the Australian Aboriginal peoples' version of their first contact with white culture which was to change their traditional way of life forever. For some it was a terrifying experience, for others a fascinating view of a world which made little sense. But for all Aboriginal people, white contact brought the end of a nomadic way of life which had lasted for at least 40,000 years.

In Benny and The Dreamers , Benny Tjapaljarri and other Pintupi elders tell their stories of life before and after "whitefellas". Through the use of rare archival footage, their journey is recreated from the central western deserts to their transformation from traditional nomad in a hunter gatherer society to sedentary consumer of white flour and sugar.

Through dramatic retelling of the stories, this film weaves its way into the nightmare of assimilation that became Papunya, the killing fields of alcohol, to the eventual rejection of European life and the return of Aboriginal land at Kintore.' (Source: Ronin Films website www.roninfilms.com.au)

Notes

  • Warning: Over the years some of the people in this video have died so careful discretion must be used when watching this with Aboriginal people particularly from West Central Australia.
  • In English and Pintupi languages (with English subtitles)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Alice Springs, Southern Northern Territory, Northern Territory,: CAAMA Productions , 1992 .
      Extent: 53 minsp.
      Description: 1 videocassette (VHS)
      Note/s:
      • Distributor: Ronin Films.
      Series: form y separately published work icon Nganampa Anwernekenhe Series CAAMA Productions , Northern Territory : CAAMA Productions Imparja Television , 1987 Z1574126 1987 series - publisher film/TV

      Over 192 episodes have been produced since 1987, with the series' primary aim being the maintenance of Aboriginal languages and culture. Nganampa Anwernekenhe is broadcast in Aboriginal languages, and is the only Aboriginal language program produced by and broadcast to Aboriginal people. The series is subtitled so that it is accessible to people who do not speak the Indigenous languages used in each program.

      'Early episodes focused on traditional law and culture stories and many of these are no longer available for public viewing. Social issues including women's welfare, health management and language change became central after about 5 years, followed in subsequent series by individual meditations on different Aboriginal identities.' Contemporary historical accounts have come to prominence in the early 2000s (Lisa Stefanoff, 'CAAMA: From the Heart,' p.19).

      All programs selected for inclusion in the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series must meet the CAAMA critieria. Included is the requirement that each show must:

        • contain 50% traditional and 50% mixed and regionally spread content;
        • be 90% indigenous language with English subtitles; and
        • have an indigenous Australian in the key creative roles, which include writer, director, cinematographer, and sound recordist.
      Among the shows produced since 1987 are 'Bush Tucker is Everywhere' (ca. 1987), 'Benny and the Dreamers' (1992), 'Tennant Creek - Sacred Dances' (1999), 'Teddy Briscoe' (2000), 'Smoking the Baby' (2001), 'Dog Dreaming' (2001), 'Beyond Sorry' (2003), 'Karli Jalangu - Boomerang Today' (2004), 'Crook Hat and Camphoo' (2005), 'The Art of Healing' (2005), and 'Wirrangul Women: Always Have, Always Will' (2006).
    • Subiaco, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: Kanopy , 2012 .
      Extent: 53 mins 46 secs.p.
      Description: Electronic resource
      Note/s:
      • Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Last amended 6 Apr 2017 16:28:26
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