Watch Willaberta Jack [from the CAAMA Collection] now

This is the outstanding short film that inspired filmmaker David Tranter to expand the story into a screenplay for the award-winning feature film SWEET COUNTRY (2017). Tranter's original documentary is a factual story of the Northern Territory in the 1920s when it was Australia's last frontier - rugged and harsh. This atmospheric re-telling of Jack's story, and the tragic aftermath of his trial, is a riveting account of the perils of being a black man who challenged the white man's dominance.

"Sweet Country comes from my family, and Philomac was my grandfather. I made a documentary about him and his older brother called Willaberta Jack. My friends said it would make a great movie. And I said yeah - but I'm not a writer. But I wanted to try so I started drawing the story in pictures and it took me about two weeks. In the end, I got help and we finished the screenplay. I'm just happy to share the story with Australia, with the rest of the world. I just really hope that Australia will embrace it, and have a look at their past because it's not just our story, it's everybody's story." - David Tranter

Running Time

26 mins

Year

2007

Kanopy ID

1042458

Filmmakers

David Tranter

Languages

English

Subjects

Documentaries > Ethnicity & Identity

Global Studies & Languages > Indigenous Studies

Documentaries

Watch now

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David Tranter continues his series of outstanding films which document the Dreaming stories and history of his Alyawarr heritage. As in Tranter's other films - BOOMERANG TODAY, CROOKHAT AND CAMPHOO, KARLU KARLU and WILLABERTA JACK - the stories are told by Elders in the community. In this case three old…

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Part of the Series: The AIATSIS Ethnographic Collection

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Part of the Series: The AIATSIS Ethnographic Collection

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In a protected northern territory of Australia called Arnhem Land, aboriginal Galpu clan leaders Djalu Gurruwiwi, and his sister, Dhanggal, strive to restore eroding traditions in the midst of an uncertain future. Distractions of the modern world pull at the minds and bodies of the youth, and the sacred lands…

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Jack Buckskin is the sole teacher of a once extinct language. From the northern Adelaide suburb of Salisbury, Jack's mission is to teach the Kaurna language, the language of his ancestors, to as many people as he can in his lifetime. But this is not easy. The language was driven…

Willaberta Jack [from the CAAMA Collection]

Ronin Films

Ronin Films

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