For immediate release
MEDIA RELEASE
ATOM Awards Finalists Highlight Key Issues and Stories from the
Indigenous Community
MELBOURNE – Monday 10 October, 2011 – This year’ s 2011 ATOM Awards finalists have put
the indigenous community in the picture and shone a light on some of the important issues and stories
from indigenous culture. Ancestral storytelling, historical documentaries, gripping fictional drama, cultural
investigations and Indigenous health and well being are just some of the topics featured in the 2011
ATOM Awards finalist productions.
“It is fantastic to see such a strong indigenous focus across a number of award categories from the 2011
ATOM Awards finalist,” said Simon Wilmot, ATOM Awards Executive Officer.
“Each year the ATOM Awards presents the Best Indigenous Education Resource category, which
includes productions that have been specifically produced for the purpose of educating the indigenous
community or produced by the indigenous community for the purpose of educating the wider
community,” noted Mr Wilmot.
The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that “The federal government has invested about $23
million in the Indigenous Remote Service Delivery Traineeships, which, from 2010 to 2013, will place
trainees aged 15 to 24 in schools and indigenous childcare services in remote areas.”1
PAW Media and Communications, ATOM Awards Finalists in the Best Indigenous Resource category,
have produced an animation project ‘Animating Jukurrpa’ which was created by more than seventy five
indigenous community members including storytellers, Jukurrpa custodians and an incredible number of
participants in animation and media roles.
Animating Jukurrpa combines live ancestral storytelling from the older community members with
animations created by young men, women and children from the three Warlpiri speaking communities of
Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyirripi.
Animating Jukurrpa is a distinctive production, particularly as the process of creating the animations
presented a valuable learning experience for the young animators involved in creating the production.
Each of the young animators was trained in many aspects of animation and filming techniques, thereby
acquiring initial and ongoing media skills due to their involvement. They also had the unique opportunity
to work with a number of different materials such as sand, rocks, clay armatures, paper cut out
characters, shade cloth and much more in order to create the ten short animations.
Young community members were also trained in video camera, sound and editing skills presenting some
of the people from these remote communities with potential opportunities in the media based production
industry.
Pregnancy, birth and parenting is an exciting time in a woman’s life, but it may also be an overwhelming
time - especially if there is a lack of social and emotional support for the expectant mother. In Australia,
15% of childbearing women experience post natal depression, which can have long-term effects on
women, children and other family members.
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Sydney Morning Herald, September 12, 2011 ‘Young indigenous mentors connect’
The ATOM Awards finalist for Best Indigenous Resource ‘Stay
connected, stay strong’ was created by Tropic Productions specifically
to support Indigenous families and educate them about the importance
of good social and emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and beyond.
The production delivers strong messages by using re-enactments and interviews with many different
women and men, each of whom share their experiences and highlight the importance of getting help
early.
‘Stay connected, stay strong’ features a range of professional works which discuss depression and the
help that is available and also offers information about community groups that provide support for
Indigenous mothers, babies and families.
‘Jandamarra’s War’ is a 2011 ATOM Awards finalist in three categories: Best Documentary General,
Best Documentary Biography and Best Docudrama. Created by Electric Pictures and Wawili Pitjas,
Jandmarra’s War is the story of an Aboriginal Bunuba warrior, Jandamarra, who led a rebellion against
invading pastoralist defending his people’s land and culture.
In 1894, Jandamarra and some followers attacked five European men who were driving cattle to set up a
large station in the centre of Bunuba land. This was the first time that guns were used against European
settlers in an organised strike and marked the beginning of what is now known as ‘The Bunuba War’.
The guerilla war lasted three years and ended when Jandamarra was shot to death at his hideout at
Tunnel Creek.
Another ATOM Awards multiple finalist is Daybreak Films’ production 'murundak - songs of freedom',
which is nominated for Best Documentary General, Best Documentary History, Social & Political Issues
and Best Documentary Arts. This film introduces viewers to the Black Arm Band - a gathering of some of
Australia’s finest Indigenous musicians - and follows them on their journey as they take to the road with
their songs of resistance and freedom.
From the concert halls of the Sydney Opera House to remote Aboriginal communities of the Northern
Territory, murundak (meaning alive in Woirurrung language), brings together pioneering singers
including Archie Roach, Bart Willoughby and the late Ruby Hunter as well as a stellar lineup of emerging
Indigenous talent including Dan Sultan, Shellie Morris and Emma Donovan.
Given that Indigenous Australians are twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to binge drink (17%
and 8% respectively),2 the ATOM Awards finalist production, Anija (alcohol), addresses a very real issue
in a powerful yet culturally sensitive way.
Filmed on location in the Northern Territory, this indigenous resource is a harsh and uplifting tale
following the life of ten year old Roy and his two year old sister Desley as they struggle to deal with
parents who drink too much..
“What makes ‘Anija’ unique is that it was devised with the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt and
Bickerton Island”, said director, David Hansen. “We cast local people and the film uses local language to
tell a story that comes from the community itself”, he added.
‘Budburra's Alphabet’ is a finalist for both Best Indigenous Resource and Best Primary Education Video
Resource. Created by Cherbourg State School and Budburra Books, this educational resource is an
animated, live action journey through the alphabet.
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Australia's national agency for health and welfare statistics and information ‘Substance use among Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people’
2
Tertiary students from ECU WA Screen Academy, Ali Roberts, Suzanne Barton and Geoff Kelso
investigate the cultural discrepancies shown on the Australian screen with their Tertiary Documentary.
‘Australian Stars’. This finalist production asks the question “If Australian television and film represents
our culture across the globe; why isn't there an Indigenous family on Neighbours or Home and Away?”
“We are always very impressed by the indigenous resources that are entered into the ATOM Awards and
which have been created specifically to educate communities about indigenous issues. This year we are
pleased to see such a large number of finalist productions with an indigenous flavour that fall into a
diverse range of ATOM Awards categories and have addressed so many important community issues,”
Mr Wilmot concluded.
To see some of the 2011 ATOM Awards finalist productions on the big screen, ATOM is holding a
number of free public screenings in Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, Tasmania, Perth and Nationally on
the Aurora Community Channel.
For details visit http://www.atomawards.org/Screenings-2011
-endsAbout the ATOM Awards
The ATOM Awards were established in 1982 by the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) - an independent, nonprofit association promoting media education and screen literacy in primary, secondary and tertiary education and
the broader community.
The ATOM Awards annually recognise excellence in over thirty categories of Film, Television, Animation and
Multimedia and celebrate the very best of Australian and New Zealand production.
The ATOM Awards program is designed to acknowledge the work that our current and future talent is contributing
to the big screen, across a wide range of media. As such, the ATOM Awards program aims to ‘capture’ and
highlight the development of all facets of media produced for ‘screen’, be it the movie, television, PC, games
console or even mobile phone screen.
This major screen culture event annually attracts a large number of students, production companies, independent
filmmakers, educational bodies and educational producers all of whom are keen to submit their best work and have
it judged alongside their peers.
Using the 2011 ATOM Awards, ATOM publications and ATOM Professional Development Victoria, ATOM is
actively engaged in the promotion of Australian product into the education and industry market. As such, the ATOM
Awards are unique in their incorporation of the educational market with the broader industry.
The combination of student and professional awards not only allows the 2011 ATOM Awards to provide allimportant early career exposure and experience for emerging professionals, but also provides promotional
opportunities for winners and finalists.
About the ATOM Awards Patron – Nadia Tass
After pursuing an academic career in arts and education, Nadia Tass began acting and later directing classical and
contemporary theatre in Melbourne. She directed her first feature film, Malcolm, in 1986. Since then Nadia has
directed the Australian features Rikky and Pete (1987), The Big Steal (1989), Mr Reliable (1997), Amy (1998).
Amy received 23 international awards including Best Film at the Paris Film Festival (99), Grand Prix de Cinecole at
Cannes Film Festival (1999), Grand Prix Cannes Junior (1999) and the Humanitarian Award at Asia Pacific Film
Festival.
Nadia’s work in the USA includes Pure Luck (1991) for Universal Studios, The Miracle Worker (2000) for Disney,
Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story (2001) for Disney, Undercover Christmas (2003) for CBS Network, Samantha:
An American Girl Holiday’(2004), and Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005) for Warner Bros, and Custody for
Jaffe Braunstein Films. She also directed Stark (1993), a miniseries for The BBC/ABC television.
She has continued her relationship with commercial theatre by directing for the
Melbourne Theatre Company, and in 2002/2003 she directed the musical
theatre production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which toured
Australia and New Zealand. Nadia's work was rewarded with a nomination for Best Direction of a Musical 2003 at
the prestigious Sir Robert Helpmann Awards.
In 2010, Tass launched a feature film called Matching Jack, which was distributed by 20th Century Fox in Australia.
The film has been screened in Cannes, Milan, Paris, London and Athens. She also has a number of feature films in
development with American studios, in addition to the slate of projects being developed through her production
company Cascade Films. Projects in development include The Journey to be shot in Greece, Paris and New York,
and Bottle This! - Nadia’s first documentary venture.
To find out more about Nadia and her production company, Cascade Films visit www.cascadefilms.com.au
For media and event information, contact:
Kerryn Nelson
Managing Director
Big Mouth Marketing Communications P/L
Ph: + 61 3 9558 3122
E: kerryn.nelson@bigmouth.net.au