Rebel With a Cause is a four-part documentary film which premiered on Australian television (SBS) in 2023.
The title is inspired by the famous movie Rebel Without a Cause which premiered in 1955.
In the movie from 1955, James Dean is a rebel who does not really know want he wants. This is why he is a rebel without a cause.
The Australian film which premiered in 2023 is about four rebels who know what they want.
They all have a cause. Each of them can be described as a rebel with a cause.
They are aboriginals and they want to improve the conditions of life for their people.
They have different ways and means to do so, but they all do as much as they can.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writers and directors: E. J. Garrett, Jill Robinson, S. F. Tusa, and Douglas Watkin
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 4 x 52 minutes = 208 minutes
Who are the four rebels with a cause?
Here are the names:
Pat O’Shane
(born 1941)
Neville Bonner
(1922-1999)
Kath Walker – later known as:
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
(1920-1993)
Tiga Bayles
(1953-2016)
The first rebel
Pat O’Shane is a retired teacher, a barrister, a public servant, and an aboriginal activist.
She was Australia’s first aboriginal magistrate, serving in the Local Court in Sydney, New South Wales, from 1986 until her retirement in 2013.
Her life and career are described in the first of the four episodes
The second rebel
Neville Bonner was an Australian politician. He was
the first aboriginal to become a member of the federal parliament in Canberra.
At first, he was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate. Later, he became the first aboriginal politician to be elected to the federal parliament by popular vote.
He served as the senator for Queensland for more than ten years (1971-1983).
His life and career are described in the second of the four episodes.
The third rebel
Kath Walker was an artist and an aboriginal activist. She is best known for her poetry, and she was the first aboriginal writer to publish a book of verse.
In 1970, she received a medal: the award of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to the community.
In 1987, she announced that she was going to return her medal (the MBE).
She did this because she wanted to protest against the Australian Government’s plan to celebrate the Australian Bicentenary, which she described as “200 years of sheer humiliation” of aboriginal people.
At the same time, she announced that she was going to change her name. She would no longer be known as Kath Walker.
She was going to take an indigenous name - Oogeroo Noonuccal - because this name would reflect who she really was.
Oogeroo means paperbark tree, while Noonuccal is the name of her people.
The life and career of Oogeroo Noonuccal are described in the third of the four episodes.
The fourth rebel
Tiga Bayles was a radio reporter and an aboriginal activist.
He was the first aboriginal to run a radio station whose prime purpose was to provide information about and for aboriginal people.
His station was known as Radio Redfern. He was an organiser and an activist.
He talked about land rights.
He said:
“We need to have to the right to our land. This is the only way we can become independent and self-sufficient.”
His life and career are described in the final and fourth episode.
The four persons whose lives and careers are presented in this film did not have an easy life. They did not do what was expected of them. They did the unexpected.
They did not do what they were supposed to do.
They could not shut up and obey the white man’s rules and regulations.
When they saw discrimination and oppression, when they saw an injustice, they could not forget it; they could not ignore it; they could not let it go.
They had to do something about this problem, and they did whatever they could. Each of them had his or her own way to respond to the unfair society in which they were living:
** Pat O’Shane became a teacher and later a magistrate
** Neville Bonner became a politician
** Kath Walker became a poet and a writer
** Tiga Bayles became a radio reporter
What do reviewers say about this film?
This question is not easy to answer.
The film is listed on IMDb, but there is no rating
There are no user reviews
The film is not available on Amazon
There are no customer reviews.
On 27 September 2023, a review of this film was published by The Sydney Morning Herald.
This review, written by Debi Enker, offers a rating of 3.5 of four stars, which corresponds to a rating of 88 percent. As you can see, this review is very positive.
The four rebels presented in this film are pioneers in four different fields. They all played an important role in the movement of the aboriginal people.
The story of the four rebels with a cause deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFRENCES
# 1. The following item is available online
Debi Enker
“Racism just made these indigenous rebels more determined,”
The Sydney Morning Herald
27 September 2023
# 2. Books
Forgotten War
By Henry Reynolds
2013
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia
Edited by Anita Heiss
2018
The Original Australians:
The Story of the Aboriginal People
By Josephine Flood
2019
# 3. Film and video
88.9 Radio Redfern
A documentary film
Run time = 54 minutes
1988
First Australians
A documentary film with seven episodes
2008
Mabo
A television movie
A historical drama
2012
Redfern Now
A television series
Season 1 = six episodes = 2012
Season 2 = six episodes = 2013
Redfern Now: Promise Me
A television movie
Run time = 86 minutes
2015
Servant or Slave?
A documentary film
Run time = 58 minutes
2016
The Australian Wars
A documentary film with three episodes
2022
Still We Rise
A documentary film
Run time = 56 minutes
2022
*****
Aboriginal activist
Pat O'Shane
(born 1941)
*****
Aboriginal activist
Neville Bonner
(1922-1999)
*****
Aboriginal activist
Kath Walker - later known as
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
(1920-1993)
*****
Aboriginal activist
Tiga Bayles
(1953-2016)
*****
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