MESSAGE STICKS INDIGENOUS FILM FESTIVAL
When you’ve got the yabber stick, you’ve got a story to tell. There are certainly plenty worth hearing at the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival; whether it’s of LaPa (La Perouse) local Rodney Adler, whose battle to conquer diabetes and morbid obesity rouses a community in the heartfelt if unpolished Big Fella, Lani’s Story of overcoming intergenerational violence, Nin’s Brother by Mary Munro or Reel Injun, a behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood representations of Native Americans from the Canadian Cree ‘Indian’, Neil Diamond. His co-director, Catherine Bainbridge, told one reporter that when it premiered to a 90% aboriginal audience, “They were laughing so hard they would miss the next joke …” – so ridiculous was the footage, including that of Bugs Bunny shooting ‘Indians’ – and yet when it was shown to the cinemaesthete crowd at the Toronto Film Festival, “It took them a while to realize that they had permission to laugh.” The real stand-out of Message Sticks however is the opening night documentary, Boxing for Palm Island, by Adrian Wills. Palm Island is a tiny slice of Queensland that sums up the contradictions of the state – great physical beauty sullied by great prejudice – and as such it’s the perfect backdrop for a group of young Indigenous Australians who are not only chasing glory but a reason to live in the boxing ring. These are real people, not clichés, and in particular the relationship between Noby, a mother of three with an infectious smile and deadly boxing style, and Uncle Ray, the boxing trainer and father figure in one, is truly touching. Pass on the yabber.
May 6-8, various times, Sydney Opera House, free, sydneyoperahouse.com
