First Australians: The Untold Story of Australia is a documentary film (in seven parts) which premiered on Australian television (SBS) in October 2008.
This film covers Australian history from the perspective of the indigenous population (aboriginals).
This film covers more than 200 years of Australian history. The time frame is 1788-1992.
From the beginning of the British colonization in 1788 to the ground-breaking Mabo Decision of 1992.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Directors: Rachel Perkins and Beck Cole
** Writers: Rachel Perkins, Beck Cole and Louis Nowra
** Released on DVD in 2008
** Run time: 7 x 52 minutes = 364 minutes
As stated above, there are seven episodes.
Each episode focuses on a specific region of Australia.
Each episode has its own time frame.
Here are the headlines:
Episode # 1
They have come to stay
New South Wales, 1788-1824
Episode # 2
Her will to survive
Tasmania, 1803-1880
Episode # 3
Freedom for our lifetime
Victoria, 1860-1890
Episode # 4
There is no other law
Central Australia, 1878-1897
Episode # 5
Unhealthy government experiment
Western Australia, 1897-1937
Episode # 6
A fair deal for a dark race
Southeast Australia, 1937-1967
Episode # 7
We are no longer shadows
Queensland & Torres Strait Islands, 1967-1992
The British colonization of Australia was based on a legal fiction. According to the British, Australia was nobody’s land. It did not belong to anyone.
The Latin term for this is:
TERRA NULLIUS
Obviously, this was not true. There was an indigenous population in Australia when the British arrived. They are known as aboriginals. But the British pretended that the land was empty.
This is why the British believed they had the right to take over the land. This is why they refused to make a treaty with the indigenous population.
Since the land was seen as empty, there was no one with whom the British could negotiate a treaty!
The British continued to apply the legal doctrine of TERRA NULLIUS for more than 100 years.
In 1901, Australia became an independent country. It was no longer a British colony.
But the new Australian government applied the same legal fiction for several decades.
After the end of World War II, an indigenous man, Eddie Mabo, decided that it was time to challenge the doctrine of TERRA NULLIUS.
Eddie Mabo decided to sue the Australian government. He wanted to use the judicial system of Australia to secure justice for his people.
It was a bold plan.
Could it work?
At first, it was merely a local case in a local court, but after a while, it became a national case which was considered by the High Court of Australia.
On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership of Mer (Murray Island).
In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people.
This ruling was a milestone in the history of the indigenous population. Their right to own the land on which they lived had finally been recognized.
More than 200 years after the beginning of the British colonization, the legal fiction of TERRA NULLIUS had been overturned. It had been declared null and void.
Sadly, Eddie Mabo did not live long enough to see that he won his case. He died of cancer in January 1992, only five months before the verdict of the High Court was issued.
This historical moment, the Mabo Decision, was chosen to mark the end of the time frame covered by the film.
Rachel Perkins and her team worked on this project for six years.
In the beginning of 2008, the work was almost completed and the film was almost ready to be released.
But in February 2008, something happened which was a huge moment for the aboriginals:
In February 2008, the Parliament of Australia issued a formal apology to the indigenous population of Australia, because federal and state agencies had conducted forced removals of indigenous children from their parents and their families.
This dark chapter of Australian history is known as the time of the Stolen Generations.
The formal apology, which was delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is also known as the National Apology or the Apology of 2008.
This historical
moment had to be included in the film, even though it happened
sixteen years after the Mabo Decision of 1992, and even though it is outside
the time frame of the film (1788-1992). It is covered in the final episode.
What do reviewers say about this film?
Here are some results:
On IMDb it has a rating of 89 percent.
There are three user reviews on IMDb.
Here are the headlines of the three reviews and the ratings offered:
100 percent
Incredibly Fascinating
100 percent
Our most important history.
Every Australian must see this
90 percent
Deeply moving stories of courage,
sacrifice, pain, heroism and enduring spirit
On Amazon there are at the moment ten ratings of this product, five with reviews.
The average rating is 4.7 stars which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent.
Here are the headlines of the five reviews and the ratings offered:
Five stars
Best DVD on Australian Aboriginal history
Five stars
Excellent and compelling
Five stars
The Struggles Facing the Black Person Down Under
Five stars
Impressive but sad
Five stars
Five Stars
The topic is important. The story deserves to be told. In this film, the it is done very well. Statements presented in the film are supported by solid and credible evidence.
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia
By Henry Reynolds
(1981)
An Indelible Stain?
The Question of Genocide in Australia’s History
By Henry Reynolds
(2001)
The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788-1838
By John Connor
(2002)
First Australians
Edited by Rachel Perkins and Marcia Langton
(This companion book to the film was published in 2010, two years after the film was released)
A History of Tasmania
By Henry Reynolds
(2011)
Forgotten War
By Henry Reynolds
(2013)
Conspiracy of Silence:
Queensland’s Frontier Killing Times
By Timothy Bottoms
(2013)
The Sydney Wars:
Conflict in the Early Colony, 1788-1817
By Stephen Gapps
(2018)
Tongerlongeter:
First Nations Leader & Tasmanian War Hero
By Henry Reynolds & Nicholas Clements
(2021)
# 2. Film and video
Rabbit-Proof Fence
A historical drama
Run time = 94 minutes
(2002)
Mabo
A historical drama
Director = Rachel Perkins
Run time = 103 minutes
(2012)
Servant or Slave
A documentary film
Run time = 58 minutes
(2016)
The Australian Wars
A documentary film
Director = Rachel Perkins
There are three episodes
Run time = 57 + 58 + 59 minutes = 174 minutes
(2022)
*****
First Australians:
The Untold Story of Australia
A documentary film
(in seven episodes)
which premiered on
Australian television in 2008
*****
First Australians
Edited by Rachel Perkins and Marcia Langton
This companion book to the film
was published in 2010
(two years after the film was released)
*****
Eddie Mabo
(1936-1992)
An aboriginal activist
who campaigned for
indigenous land rights in Australia
*****
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