Jandamarra
Jandamarra is a true historical figure who live
between 1873 and 1897
He lived in the Kimberleys in the NE of WA
This is what Jandamarra country looks like
He was a warrior of the Bunuba tribe…
… who waged guerilla war...
… against the white settlers who took over his
ancestral lands …
… and had killed and enslaved his race.
Jandamarra used his knowledge of his
environment to elude capture for years.
And so with that history as a backdrop, this story
of Jandamarra is set in 1916 and tells the story of
Sergeant Major David Grisham VC MM…
… a soldier’s soldier, twice a VC winner, hero, who fought
and was wounded at Pozieres fighting the Germans. If he was
born Japanese, he’d be a samurai.
Grisham was repatriated to teach at a military
training camp…
Grisham’s problem was that he hates injustice, so
when he sees an aboriginal being assaulted by an
officer…
… he intervenes…
…and is subsequently court martialed…
… by a tribunal that takes a hard-line
against an NCO assaulting an
officer…
He is sent to prison…
…then
locked in
solitary
for
stopping
prison
guards
from
murdering
an inmate
But Colonel Moore recognises Grisham’s warrior code
and so offers him a chance to redeem his career by
hunting and returning with a dangerous aboriginal
waging guerilla warfare in the outback…
But a
stubborn
Grisham
refuses,
electing
prison to
possible
freedom
…
… but when he is threatened with death at the
hands of brutal guards…
… Grisham takes Moore’s offer and heads out…
… to hunt for Jandamarra…
… unaware that his nemesis – Lieutenant Chadwick –
has sent out a posse to murder Jandamarra and...
… put him on a collision course with the posse and
thereby decide his and Jandamarra’s fates…
… in Jandamarra’s country.
Jandamarra will utilise the colours of the Australian
landscape…
… and the environment…
… to paint a character…
… that has a presence in itself.
It also utilises the sounds of the Australian landscape…
… that speaks to the theme of the movie…
… and which resonates with the audience.
In exploiting these colours, a wide angle and long
depth of field will be used.
I will contrast these vibrant colors of the landscape with the
colder, darker, greyer colours of urban life and the low depth
of field (to typify Man’s separation and alienation from his
surroundings) – as in these images from the movie Traffic…
Jandamarra draws on David Lean, Sergio Leone and Australian
cinema classics like these for inspiration…
Each of these cinema classics have sympathetic
characters who clash against white society…
Images from Schepisi’s
The Chant of Jimmie
Blacksmith
… fully utilise the desolate landscape and its
earthy, red colours…
Photos from Hillcoat’s The Proposition
… are shot outside, en plein air, utilising natural
light and landscape as a character…
Photos from de Heer’s
The Tracker…
… and spectacularly shown with the use of wide angle
lenses…
Photos from
Roeg’s
Walkabout…
…
… and a focal length that gives each shot great depth…
Photos
from
Noyce’s
RabbitProof
Fence…
…
… and richness…
Photos from Weir’s Gallipoli…
Photos from Beresford’s Breaker Morant…
Photos from Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia…
Photos from Lean’s Dr Zhivago…
Photos from Lean’s Bridge Over the River Kwai…
Photos from Sergio Leone’s films…
Grisham will look
like this…
Or this…
Jandamarra will look
like this…
Or this…
Grisham’s uniform will look like this…
Finally, we will shoot on this…
RESUME – JOSEPH KISCH
2012
Writer – Drago Bentley: Space Detective – fifth issue of graphic novel released;
Writer, Director, Producer – Drago Bentley: Space Detective, Chapter 2 – short animation film, 20 minutes.
Colt Brody - Equalizer screenplay completed.
2011
Assistant Director – Finding Eric – short film, 10 minutes; writer/Director – Scott Maybury;
Writer, Director, Producer – Drago Bentley: Space Detective, Chapter 1 – short animation film, 20 minutes;
Writer – Drago Bentley: Space Detective – fourth issue of graphic novel released;
Writer, Director, Producer – Drago Bentley: Space Detective, Chapter 2 – short animation film, 20 minutes.
2010
First three issues of the graphic novel, Drago Bentley – Space Detective released. See http://dragobentleycomic.canberrafilms.com
Blue Cat International Screenwriting Competition 2010 – feature script, Devil’s Machine makes the fourth round.
Barrio Chino makes quarterfinals of Story Pros Screenwriting Competition 2010.
2009
Producer – Red – short film, 8 minutes; writer – Scott Maybury
Producer – Blind-sided – short film, 7 minutes; writer – Joe Kisch
Assistant Director – Your Own Medicine – short film, 10 minutes; writer/Director – Bruce Davie
Producer – Crossing the Line – short film, 15 minutes; writer/Director – Joe Kisch (official selection Dungog Film Festival 2009)
Feature script, Barrio Chino, semi-finalist in Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition 2009 (top 60 out of 3200 submissions)
Feature script, Devil’s Machine, semi-finalist in Story Pros Screenwriting Competition 2009.
2008
Producer – Crossing the Line – short film, 15 minutes; writer/Director – Joe Kisch (short-listed for Canberra Short Film Festival 2008)
Assistant Director – Dearth – short film, 15 minutes; writer/Director – Bruce Davie
(wins Canberra Short Film Festival 2008)
Short film script, Progress Doors, wins Canberra short seasons script competition
Short film script, Blind Faith, co-written with Bruce Dave, wins third place in Barebones Film Festival 2008 script competition
2007
Feature script, Swimming Against the Currents, wins second place (Diamond Prize) in Category One (Drama Genre) in the Filmmakers International
Screenwriting Competition
Short film script, Blind Love, co-written with Bruce Dave, wins Canberra short seasons script competition
Short films, Jenni’s Torment and Blind Love selected for semi-finals in Canberra Short Film Festival