Corroboree

With an introduction by Afsun Moshiry

Windjarrameru (The Stealing C*nt$)
Karrabing Film Collective, Australien 2015, 36:33 min, UT, DCP

Wutharr, Saltwater Dreams
Karrabing Film Collective, Australien 2016, 29 min, UT, DCP

The Mermaids, Or Aiden In Wonderland
Karrabing Film Collective, Australien 2018, 27 min, UT, DCP

The struggle of Aboriginal people for land and resources is connected to the colonization of Australia. Land as property creates a connection between politics and economics by transforming it into an asset. After the genocidal displacement of the oldest culture on earth, a system of paternalistic segregation was instigated. Some Aborigines fled to remote locales, away from government oversight, while others sought refuge in wilderness areas or the suburbs. First Nations Australian filmmakers from Karabbing Collective will offer perspectives on their experiences as aboriginal people in the context of the traditions and knowledge tied to their land. In the Eora language, Corroboree refers to a place of ceremony and creative expression, describing a transformative gathering. Our gathering with the collective will be accompanied by Windjarrameru (The Stealing C*nt$) a depiction of an intergenerational discussion about the traps of modern society that split the community. The employment of Aborigines by the armed forces prompted some to leave reserves and settle in towns and cities after the Second World War. Still, mining work is still central to the daily lives of many aborigines, as thematized in Wutharr, Saltwater Dreams. The emergence of racial consciousness facilitated a shift in government policy, which adopted an assimilation approach. Responsible guardianship over sites and their cultural and spiritual weight is not just a matter of cultural identity, but of preserving a reality in which the future, past, and present have a fluid and continuous relationship – one that is cosmologically distinct from the assimilation program of the Australian government. The Mermaids, or Aiden in Wonderland, a vision of how the natives will survive a poisoned capitalist society, rounds off the program. (AM)

Karrabing Film Collective is a grassroots Indigenous-based media group. Filmmaking provides a means of self-organization and social analysis for the Karrabing. Screenings and publications allow the Karrabing to develop local artistic languages and forms and allow audiences to understand new forms of collective Indigenous agency. karrabing.info/karrabing-film-collective