Jobe Adams is from the very remote Aboriginal community of Woorabinda in north-east Queensland. Before Wednesday he had never left the state.
Now the teenager is a finalist in the largest short film festival in the world, 1318 kilometres away from the humid plains of north-east Australia.
In December he will join 31 other finalists in Tropfest and Tropfest Junior on the grassy knolls of Centennial Park in Sydney.
15-year-old Jobe Adams’ film tells the story of his grandfather trying to pass down his Aboriginal culture to his grandchildren. Photo: Supplied
The 15-year-old’s film, Buloo, tells a deeply personal tale.
For the people of Woorabinda, Buloo means grandfather. But no one in the remote Aboriginal settlement could tell you which language it comes from.
From 1927 onwards, up to 52 different Aboriginal language groups were forcibly relocated to the settlement camp. They were banned from speaking their native tongue. Their rights, culture and health were decimated for much of the 20th century.
Millie Rose Heywood and Richard Green’s film Spirit Stones was inspired by Green’s great-grandmother’s battle to keep the Dharug language alive. Photo: Supplied
The film was crafted by Jobe and a small crew of classmates in the remote school of Baralaba, 40 kilometres south-west of Woorabinda.
It tells the story of Jobe’s grandfather, who fought for decades to keep his native culture alive.
“He taught you how to respect your elders, how to help your community and how to protect your language,” the teenager said on the steps of Bennelong point in Sydney.
It is fitting that this is where Jobe and Richard Green’s lives intersect.
They stand together on the point named after the great Aboriginal leader of the Eora nation, Bennelong.
Two centuries ago he was the first Aboriginal to learn the English language.
He would have been devastated by the extinction of his own native tongue, said Mr Green, co-writer of Spirit Stones, another Tropfest finalist.
Mr Green knows the story all too well.
His great-grandmother was the last fluent speaker of the Dharug language, the language of Bennelong and the Eora people of Sydney.
The screenplay for Spirit Stones was inspired by her tale of despair in Sydney during the 1960’s.
“She was locked away in institutions because she wouldn’t stop speaking her native language,” he said.
Mr Green describes himself as a patriot, a man that tells stories for all Australians.
“As patriotic and as Australian we Koori’s are, we have a black-fella history that needs to be told.”
Jobe agrees.
“Future generations need to know that their culture is strong. It’s just not worth losing,” he said.
The 16 Tropfest and 15 Tropfest Junior finalists were announced on Wednesday.
The festival, now in its 22nd year, received over 600 entries across its two categories.
“We had everything from films shot on smartphones to 35 millimetre shorts,” said Tropfest managing director Michael Laverty
“But what we really noticed this year is that the people who been making the shortlist for the past five years had forced themselves into the final. Year after year they have just kept improving their craft.”
- This article originally appears at:
- http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tropfest-2014-keeping-the-native-tongue-alive-20141112-11kd25.html
- Article taken from the following publication:
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Article submitted by:
- Author:
- Eryk Bagshaw
