Black Screen

Black Screen provides Indigenous communities and the broader Australian public with free access to Indigenous films.

The Black Screen program makes DVD Compiles of contemporary Indigenous films available for loan to individuals and organisations for use at screening events, festivals and community celebrations. The compiles include works by renowned directors Warwick Thornton and Ivan Sen.

Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mabo Day with a Screening

Black Screen can help you celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mabo Day by offering a free on-loan DVD compilation which includes Film Australia’s Mabo – Life of Island Man and rich footage Indigenous footage from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s collection.

Mabo Day on June 3rd commemorates the late “Eddie” Koiki Mabo (1936-1992), a Torres Strait Islander whose campaign for land rights led to the High Court’s 1992 landmark decision, which overturned a legal fiction that Australia was Terra Nullius (land belonging to no-one).

NAIDOC Week 2012

A screening of Indigenous short films can be a great addition to your NAIDOC Week celebrations.

The NFSA’s Black Screen Program can supply DVDs free to your community organisation. Each DVD features a selection of contemporary short Indigenous films and is provided on a loan basis as part of a special event or festival.

This year Black Screen released Compilation (13). The compile features four engaging and entertaining films. The first, Mitch Torres’s Jandmarra’s War won Best Documentary under one hour at this year’s AACTA Awards. Steven McGregor’s short film Tales from the Daly, is a cautionary tale from the Nauiyu community of the Daly River region. The release also includes Minnie Loves Junior and the documentary Big Fella, a story about the crippling health effects of diabetes and obesity, and one man’s love for life and his battle to stay alive.

NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2011: Black Screen films were viewed in all states from the east to west coast in 93 locations across Australia. More than 3234 people attended 184 screenings during July celebrations of NAIDOC Week, exceeding figures from 2010.

Black Screen film screenings were hosted by large Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous organisations such as CAAMA Productions in Alice Springs, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and Voyagers Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara; city councils, small towns and local communities. For the first time a Black Screen event was held in Tasmania at the Aboriginal Hostel in Hobart to celebrate NAIDOC week 2011.

Black Screen tour in remote WA — Black Screen in the Kimberley

Black Screen will present a selection of Indigenous films to remote Indigenous communities in the Kimberley region.

In partnership with ScreenWest and Lotterywest, the Black Screen tour is funded to support and promote Indigenous films and filmmakers in Western Australia, to encourage and inspire local communities to tell their own stories and to consider pursuing careers in the creative industries.

“Screening tours like this help strengthen our cultural heritage. Our thanks go to Wawil Pitjas, ScreenWest and Lotterywest for working with Black Screen to make this tour possible” said Andrea Briggs, Black Screen Coordinator.

Remote Indigenous communities in north Western Australia will have the opportunity to see films by Indigenous filmmakers on the big screen, including gems like Mitch Torres Jandamarra’s War (2011) and short films from Deadly Yarns 6 (2011), including Bunny (Janine Kelly), If I drown I can swim (Irma Woods), Wadumbah (James T Webb) and Walk Tall, Stand Strong (Dean Daley-Jones).

Jandamarra’s War tells the true story of Jandmarrra, a Bunuba man from the Kimberley who, in 1894, led one of the most effective rebellions in the history of indigenous peoples’ resistance to European colonisation.

Commencing in Wankatjunka on 28 May, the tour will travel across the region to Fitzroy Crossing (29 May), Mowanjum (30 May), Looma (31 May), Bardi Ardyloon/One Arm point (4 June), Djarindjin/Lombadina (5 June), and winding up in Bidyadanga (6 June).

All screenings Include a BBQ for the community at each location.