A Bit Of Black Business

Ladies and gentleman, the film Australian Rules is simply impossible to overlook as Australia’s entry into the international film everything that a proper ‘Australian’ film should, drama, romance, action and deceit. It portrays cultural differences that create segregation between the fabrics of society in a town that doesn’t possess the capacity to co-exist which is evident in urbanized Australia.

"Before you can end your life you have to live it and to live it you’ve got to share it." Rex, one of the main characters from the film, “The Last Cab to Darwin”, shares this philosophy with the audience, but today I am not here to talk about the white Australian character in this film. I am here to talk about Tilly, the young indigenous man who throughout the film continuously portrays the main Australian characteristics of mateship, acceptance of a different race and courage.

The concept art imitates life is crucial to film directors who express their views on political and social issues in film. In regard to film studies, race is a topic rare in many films. Like America, many films simply refuse to address this topic for various reasons. However, more recently, Jordan Peele’s 2017 box office hit Get Out explicates contemporary race relations in America. In the form of an unconventional comedy horror, Get Out is intricate in its depiction of white liberal attitudes towards African Americans. In short, Get Out suggests a form of covert racism existing in a post- Jim Crow era. Similarly, Eduardo Bonilla- Silva’s book Racism Without Racists acknowledges the contemporary system of racism or “new racism,” a system

The enchanting and heart-warming film Satellite boy, directed by Catriona McKenzie is a story set in the Kimberley Region, north of Western Australia and follows the character of Pete on a journey of discoveries and learning Indigenous culture. McKenzie delivers and utilises a range of different film techniques which help develop the themes of conflict between tradition and changes, confronting challenges and sense of belonging. Through these film techniques, the audience is able to understand that indigenous culture will be more appreciated because of its significance to aboriginals in their life.

Australian Film allows the rest of the world to have an insight into our way of life, our communities and our land. Australian film usually provides a hard-working and hardy stereotype who lives in the outback and takes pride in his mates, and for a lot of the country, this is mostly true. The typical Australian is a laid back, hard-working community member who prides the relationship they have with their mates, who may not even be a person. The saying ‘a man’s best friend is his dog’ is incredibly true for many, especially Australians, where dogs can be found in all walks of life. At least, this is Kriv Stender’s perspective of Australian identity, seen in his 2011 film Red Dog.

‘Homecoming’ directed by Bruce Dawe has an effective illustration compared to ‘The Australian Dream’. It provides an

The final film by Marlon Riggs, Black is…Black Ain't, is concerned with the state of the African American community. This film essentially asks the question, what does it mean to be black? The director and producer, Marlon Riggs, guides viewers along an “an up-front examination of racism, sexism, and homophobia within the black community itself. Bringing together personal stories, interviews, music, history, and performance, Black Is...Black Ain’t asks African Americans: What is black, black enough, or too black?”1

Good morning/afternoon and welcome to the 2018 annual Australian Film Festival. The Australian films represented here today are examples of egalitarianism and the idea of a fair go for all. They depict the underdog, and their drive to succeed and achieve. In many Australian films today these two qualities are shown throughout which makes for a captivating and exciting film experience. Iconic films such as The Sapphires and Ned Kelly depict Australians fighting against injustice, personal issues and inequality, showing the value of a “fair go” and egalitarianism.

Most people are born with good hearts, but as they grow up they learn prejudices. “Crash” is a movie that brings out bigotry and racial stereotypes. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a cultural mix of every nationality. The story begins when several people are involved in a multi-car accident. Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a police detective with a drugged out mother and a mischief younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his wife, a racist cop and his younger partner, a successful Hollywood director and his wife, a Persian immigrant father, a Hispanic locksmith and his young

In the film ‘Crash’ directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, several lives cross paths because of an adage, ‘it’s a small world’. The characters come from different backgrounds and social class, consequence, the underlying tone of race is presented in a facet which is a cause for concern. In today’s current tension infested race topic, stereotypes tend to push the notion that one’s perception of race, gender and class must be reality. The question becomes, where does an individual develop these notion and perception and does the blame belong to media and film. Looking at the movie ‘Crash’, it was nominated for over 100 awards and won 3 Oscars; impeccably depicted the intertwining of gender, race and social class that one would assume that the movie’s a depiction of reality. One may conclude that movies are responsible for the perpetual class and virtue given to the middle and upper classes only. Although Parenti’s belief that Hollywood films always attach virtue to the well-off middle and upper classes this is not always the class. Hollywood media and films are guilty of assigning privilege to some and strife to others, however the characters in the movie Crash, Brenden Fraser, Chris Bridges and Thandie Newton all form different economical classes display different types of class and virtue.

With their contemporary representation of indigenous people and the issues they face today, Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Chris Eyre’s Smoke Signals are films that try to fracture the stereotypical Indian image that has persisted since the beginning of the Hollywood industry. Written and directed by Native American filmmakers, both stories comment on the condition of indigenous people in and outside the United States by confronting topics on poverty, death, drugs, alcoholism, and parent abandonment. While released almost a decade apart from one another, both cinemas follow the similar stories of their protagonist as they try to deal with these problems by trying to understand themselves and the obstacles in their respective

Good Morning/Afternoon, members of the Australian Film Commission. In todays’ seminar, I will delve into the attitudes and beliefs that are present in the typical Australian film to evaluate how they support aspects of the Australian Identity. Using unique cinematics, Kriv Stenders, “Red Dog”, has successfully portrayed the Australian idiom of mateship and the severity of the Australian ‘outback’.

“It is said that seeing is believing but that depends on the source vision”. If one does not experience first-hand they see through another medium which is often film and television. Film is one of the reasons black culture and the black experience is misunderstood and filled with fabricated beliefs. African Americans have been involved in Hollywood films since film earliest forms in the early 20th century. In these early films African Americans was showed in a damaging unpleasant way. African American filmmakers have been are emancipating the black image from Hollywood’s depiction of Blacks. They are challenging the stereotypes and destroying the view of the singular black experience. Black are becoming more involved in the

According to the article, Outsider Art, Written by Willa Paskin, Programs starring minority groups are bringing a new level of awareness to the issues facing migrants and other minorities everyday. Programs like How to Get Away With Murder and Blackish are another example of how Hollywood’s latest push for diversity is progressing the public's views on immigrants and educating the masses about what minorities have to deal with on a daily basis.

unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America. Diving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post-9/11 Los Angeles, this compelling urban drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast of characters' struggles to overcome their fears as they careen in and out of one another's lives. In the gray area between black and white, victim and aggressor, there are no easy answers. Funny, powerful, and always unpredictable, "Crash" boldly reminds us of the importance of tolerance as it ventures beyond color lines…and uncovers the truth of our shared humanity (plot synopsis from film's official site).