Australia

1

Tanna (Vanuatu) – Transport Yourself to Another World

Tanna Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Watching Tanna is an experience. It’s not everyday that you can transport yourself to another part of the world and another culture so far from our own. Unless you’ve got a one-way ticket to Vanuatu, this is the closest you’ll get to living in a Kastom tribe in a beautiful island.

Why Watch Tanna?
  • The setting is incredible
  • It’s the first film shot completely in Vanuatu and the first to get nominated for the Academy Awards
  • If you loved the tradition in Whale Rider and want to go one step further
  • Volcano shots! The lava spewing everywhere is amazing! Check the trailer above if you aren’t sold.
The Breakdown

The first thing you’ll notice in Tanna is the incredible setting. The whole film is filmed on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu and all the action takes place in and around the rain forest. Fortunately for us, the landscape includes picturesque waterfalls and an awesome volcano. It’s pretty much impossible to make the island look bad.

Life here is free. The kids run around chasing each other every day in their natural playground. Initially it seems like a life of no worries. However, unfortunately, you’ll learn that it life is not as free and romantic as it initially appears. Firstly, Selim, one of the youngest kids of the group, is told she has to grow up and become a woman. Secondly, when she is taken to visit her spirit mother, her Grandpa is beaten to death by a rival tribe. You’ll have to watch the film to find out the consequences.

Western Influence on the Island

You’d be forgiven for thinking that this film is set before the arrival of Captain Cook and the western world. The tribal life on the island has none of the amenities we take for granted such as electricity, supermarkets, or mobile phones. However, even though they seem like they have never encountered Western culture, you’d be wrong if you thought they were completely cut off. In fact, one of the tribes’ members has a picture of himself with Prince Phillip of England dressed in a suit. Plus, there’s a christian camp with electricity, clothing, and regular houses just over the hill by their camp.

Why is it important that they are not cut off? Because it shows the strong and enduring legacy of tribal life. It shows that they have chosen to live life in the rain-forest even though they could switch to the ‘luxuries’ of western culture. It’s a great example of cultural relativism: the idea that all cultures should be understood individually and not judged against each other. No way of life or culture is better than another. However, unfortunately most of the cultures subject to western colonialism weren’t given a choice.

Conclusion

Tanna is beautiful. If you’re one of those who watched Avatar and felt depressed afterwards because our world wasn’t the same, then you might feel the same way after you watch Tanna.

*****Spoilers*****

But romanticizing aside, there’s a great story-line which draws parallels to a Shakespeare classic. And ultimately there’s a somewhat happy ending. That the indigenous culture of Tanna are managing to adapt whilst still opting to remain completely independent from Western culture.

 

2

Another Country (Australia) – Meet the Other Side of Australia

Another Country Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Most people forget that Australia, like the United States, was already inhabited when Europeans arrived. Just like in the U.S. the natives were almost wiped out by disease, politics, and genocide. Today, Indigenous Australians make up just 3% of the Australian population and Australian politics have pushed them to the side onto pseudo-reservations. Get to know some of them in Another Country – watch it here (Amazon).

Image result for another country molly reynolds

Why Watch Another Country?
  • Get to know the indigenous Australians of Ramininging, Northern Territory
  • Learn how politics have disrupted the old way of life
  • Witness the lack of opportunity and isolation of the community
  • See a strange reenactment of the crucifixion
The Breakdown

Firstly, we’re introduced to our narrator, the ‘living legend’ that is David Gulpilil. You may know him from films like Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit Proof Fence, and Charlie’s Country. He’s even met with the queen and relaxed with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. But, he assures us, “this film is as much about you than it is about me and my people”.  Another Country is about what happened to aboriginal culture when it was interrupted by western culture.

The film is set in Ramininging, 400km away from the nearest town (if the dirt tracks haven’t been washed away). No one wanted to live here, but the Australian government set up a town here anyway to host the indigenous people it didn’t know what to do with. It’s as if they picked a completely isolated spot to keep them hidden.

Why would the Australian government want to keep the indigenous population hidden? Because they don’t know anything about the indigenous population. The politicians never learned any indigenous languages and rarely interact with any of the indigenous people out of their own initiative, so keeping them out of sight is a way of hiding their ignorance. All the government does is provide them with just enough to keep them living and reliant on government support.

Why is Another Country narrated?

Yes, Another Country is a documentary, and documentaries are often narrated without the narrator appearing in the film. But Another Country is different. This is David Gulpilil’s home town, and he introduces us to his childhood friends through his narration, so it would only be natural for him to appear and initiate dialogue with his friends and family. But, instead, he is kept separate from what we are seeing on film.

This creates a distance between what we are being told and what we are seeing. As a result, his narration feels similar to the news reporters we see on TV, that narrate over news footage to create a story.

Australians, and the world, are probably used to hearing news reporters and politicians create the story of indigenous Australians without having any understanding of them. And, most of us probably blindly accept what they say as the truth as they are figures of authority.

Therefore, having David Gulpilil as the narrator, and keeping him as just a narrator, keeps him in a position of narrative authority that news reporters and politicians often inhabit. He gets to create the story as he sees it, and we, the audience, get to finally listen to an indigenous voice narrating the indigenous people in Australia.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Another Country is the documentary to watch if you want to get to know some of the marginalised Indigenous Australians. You get a first hand introduction to the isolated community of Ramininging through it’s most famous former resident, David Gulpilil.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the history of the indigenous Australians, check out Rabbit Proof Fence. It’s a story about a couple of girls from the Stolen Generations who were removed from their families by the Australian government in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Or if you want to see more films exploring the damage done by generations of European colonists around the world, check out: