The Last Daughter
This documentary film premiered in 2022. The topic is the Australian government program which is known as the Stolen Generations and its consequences.
It began in 1910 and ended in 1969. But the official end was not the real end. Some social workers continued the program into the 1970s.
The time frame runs from 1910 to 1975, a period of 65 years. Since a generation is usually defined as 25-30 years, the program was in action for at least two generations.
What was happening when this program was in action?
Young children were removed from their indigenous family after which they were placed with a white foster family or they were adopted by a white family.
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This film covers the history of the government program by focusing on one person who was a victim of the program: Brenda Matthews who was born as Brenda Simon.
** What happened to her?
** What is her story?
Brenda’s parents had seven children. Brenda had six siblings. In 1973, all seven children were taken by the social workers.
No explanation was offered. The social workers might say the children were neglected. This claim could be used as a reason to remove them from their parents.
The seven children were placed in seven different locations. The Australian authorities did not want the siblings to stay together. In that case, they might form a strong bond and they might resist the official plan to make them forget the indigenous world.
The government wanted to erase the indigenous element inside them. The government wanted them to grow up in a white environment and to have white memories.
Brenda was born in late 1970. In early 1973, when she and her siblings were taken, she was only two years old.
Brenda was placed with a white family, Connie and Mac Ockers, who already had two children: a boy (Eugene) and a girl (Rebecca), who was almost the same age as Brenda.
Brenda lived with the foster family for five years (1973-1978). She was close to Rebecca. She got along with the parents. The parents liked her.
The social worker told Connie and Mac that Brenda's father was an alcoholic. This was the reason why she had been removed from her parents.
Connie and Mac opened their home to help and support Brenda. They did not know (and they could not know) that the social worker had lied about Brenda's father. He was not an alcoholic.
Connie and Mac liked Brenda so much that they wanted to adopt her. Around 1977, they filed an application for an adoption. But in 1978, the application was denied.
In that year, the social worker told Connie and Mac that Brenda was going back to her own family. The social worker gave them the address and told them to drive Brenda back to her home.
Connie and Mac were confused, because no explanation was offered. But they did what the social worker told them to do. In 1978, Brenda was returned to her biological father and mother.
Brenda was also confused. Nobody explained anything to her. She was just told that she was going back to her own family.
Brenda's life was turned upside down two times within five years:
** The first time in 1973, when she was placed with the white foster family, the Ockers
** The second time in 1978, when was returned to her own family
She had to adjust to a huge transformation two times within five years.
Just when she was getting used to living with the Ockers, she was sent back to her own family. This was her own family but she did not know them at all.
In 1978, when she was sent back to her own family, she felt like a stranger. She did not know her parents. She did not know her siblings.
She was told that all her siblings had also been removed in 1973. When the parents complained, the six siblings were returned in three stages:
** Siblings 1 and 2 were allowed to return
** Siblings 3 and 4 were allowed to return
** Siblings 5 and 6 were allowed to return
Brenda was the last of the seven children who was allowed to return to the parents. Hence the title of the film, The Last Daughter.
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In this film, we follow the story from 1973 to 1978. The early years of Brenda’s life.
In this film, we see some reconstructed moments of her life when she was a child. Obviously, there was no camera around to film these moments of her childhood. But many photos from that time have been preserved and they are used in the film.
The story does not end in 1978. This is, in fact, only the beginning of the story. In this film, we meet Brenda as an adult as well as her parents. We also meet the foster parents Connie and Mac. And these scenes are not reconstructions. They are real. How did this happen?
As an adult, Brenda decided that she was going to make a film about her life. Making this film about her life was a way for her to find herself. It was the road to a process of healing.
This film is made by Brenda and an associate named Nathaniel Schmidt.
In 1978, when Brenda was returned to her family, she had to adjust to a new situation. She had to find a way to settle in. She had to get to know her parents and her siblings.
This was not all. There was more. She asked herself: “Who am I? What is my identity?”
She had some vague memories of her life with the white family. Her friend Rebecca. But nothing was clear.
She had to find herself. She could not let it go. But she was not sure how to proceed.
As an adult, she worked with a white man Mark Matthews who organised cultural camps for young people.
Mark and Brenda got along quite well. After a while, they had a romantic relationship. After a while, they got married.
Mark knew that Brenda was bothered by something in her past. But he did not know what it was. When she tried to explain it to him, he said if you are bothered by something in the past, perhaps you have to go back and find out what it was.
Brenda began to search for her past. She wanted to find Connie and Mac. She wanted to find Rebecca, if this was possible.
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In 2018, forty years after the separation in 1978, she met Connie and Mac again. Sadly, she could not meet Rebecca, because she died a few years before this meeting. The situation was very emotional. But the mood was positive.
Connie and Mac had a question about Brenda's father: was he still an alcoholic?
Brenda was shocked when they asked this question. She told them her father had never been an alcoholic. She asked: why do you ask this question?
They explained that this what they had been told in 1973. Now Brenda understood. The social worker had lied to them in order to explain why Brenda had been removed from her family.
It was good that they had asked this question. Because now the lie had been exposed.
Brenda had a question: Why did you send me away in 1978? Connie and Mac explained. We did not send you away. We were told to bring you back.
Brenda was relieved. She had felt rejected, because they had sent her back. Now she learned the truth. They loved her. They wanted to adopt her, but they were not allowed to do that.
Forty years after the separation, Brenda and her foster parents could get to know each other again.
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What do reviewers say about this film?
Here are some answers:
** 100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
** 100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
** 79 percent = IMDb
Eighteen user reviews are posted on the IMDb website. What do they say?
** 70 percent = one review
** 80 percent = one review
** 90 percent = one review
** 100 percent = fifteen reviews
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
In my opinion, the positive reviews are well-deserved and fully justified. I think this product deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCE
Luke Buckmaster,
“The Last Daughter - Review,”
The Guardian
15 June 2023
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