In order to understand the current Indigenous film industry in Australia and make well-informed projections into the future it is necessary to cast back and examine how the industry came to be. Looking at the Australian film and television industry on a whole and the history of Indigenous Australia we’re looking to learn from the past to see how the industry will move forward.
The key ideas which we have found from the past Indigenous film industry are:
- The importance of representation in media to develop national identity. Representation is a key way to add and develop the publics understanding of issues. As actress Miranda Tapsell stated in her logies acceptance speech, “Put more beautiful people of colour on TV and connect viewers in ways which transcend race and unite us”. One of the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Indigenous deaths in custody was to increase media representation.
- That the progression of Indigenous film industry mirrors the progression of government policy and Indigenous rights. What this means is government help is important to further progression, not just in the film industry but Australia’s indigenous identity. The opportunities for Indigenous filmmakers grew and grew with the civil rights movement and events like the Whitlam governments move from assimilation to self determination.
- That Indigenous films and filmmakers are on a strong upward trajectory in recent years. The films are getting good critical responses, they are popular in film festivals and have reached a global market. This disproves the antiquated theory that there’s not an audience for Indigenous film
This research has allowed us to better understand the context of Indigenous filmmaker and how it has moved from racist stereotyped depictions to empowered and diversified representation and creative direction.