Time Bomb: Changing, ongoing

The issue of Indigenous health is an important one and people like Frank Djara assist in the ongoing documentation of health problems experienced by Indigenous communities, remote and otherwise. The shots of the streets of Areyonga seem to reinforce the isolation of the community, the foreignness of treating sickness with Western medicine, and the need for Frank and other patients to go into cities to receive treatments such as dialysis. The filmmakers use place – shots of buildings and country – to reinforce the issue of cultural translation that is required in order to administer appropriate healthcare.

Time Bomb synopsis

A documentary about Frank Djara and his work as a men’s health consultant in Areyonga. Frank also talks about how diabetes has affected his life.

Time Bomb curator's notes

The title of this documentary, Time Bomb, is how Frank Djara refers to living with diabetes. Frank Djara was the first male health worker in Areyonga, and was hired to work with Indigenous men. Previously there had been women health workers only, which made it uncomfortable for men to confide their health problems. The language barrier also posed a problem, and consultations between Indigenous male patients and white doctors were problematic. Time Bomb presents as a documentary about a man’s life experience, but as the film progresses, the deeper meaning of Frank Djara’s life experience bubbles to the surface.

Time Bomb communicates to the Indigenous community the importance of treating diabetes, especially if one or both parents is afflicted with it. Time Bomb is challenging to watch as it deals with health issues. Frank Djara is very generous in sharing his experience, but also very strong in promoting the importance of looking after one’s self. Frank would eventually lose both his legs below the knees to diabetes, and the consequence of neglecting diabetes is powerfully communicated during these sequences.

The Nganampa Anwernhenkene series allows the subject’s voice to set the tone of the film and, in Time Bomb, Frank Djara’s life story sets up the eventual health-related focus of the film. These are serious issues that are being presented, and the simplicity of the film is in how it sets up these issues visually by use of shots of country. The audience gets a sense of remoteness so that when we are in the city clinics, the tension between Western and Indigenous cultures is immediately apparent. It is these tensions that Indigenous patients and health workers alike must negotiate in order for health care to be administered.

Notes by Romaine Moreton

Education notes

The clip shows Frank Djara explaining in language how he worked as a health educator in his community of Areyonga, south-west of Alice Springs. It displays his artwork that he used to teach Indigenous people about health issues. The footage follows the road to Areyonga and depicts the community health centre, which Djara in a wheelchair visits as a patient. He outlines his own experience as a diabetic and illustrates the check-ups and treatments involved in treating the ‘sickness’. There are English subtitles.

Educational value points

• This clip features Frank Djara, a former health worker who drew on his artistic skills and his own experience as a diabetic to teach others in his community of Areyonga about health issues. The clip focuses on his role, showing him explaining his work and visiting the community health centre for a check-up. The clip extends his role as a health worker by communicating his health message to a wider audience.

• Djara’s dot paintings are presented as an appropriate way of communicating about health issues to his community at Areyonga. Painted images in this clip include women with babies, birth-control methods and people of different ages and backgrounds. Djara explains that taking a painting into communities is important because some Indigenous people, especially the old people, understand pictures but not written words.

• The importance of testing for and treating diabetes in many Indigenous communities is outlined clearly in this clip. Urine testing is illustrated, showing the simple process of diagnosis using a colour chart. Djara explains two ways to treat diabetes at the time the film was made – tablets and injections. His check-up is used as an example of the regular monitoring needed. The camera focuses on a sign at the clinic to make this point explicit.

• The depiction of the Areyonga community in this clip suggests its remoteness (it is 240 km west of Alice Springs) and the role of the local community health centre as a contact point for people with health problems. Areyonga’s community of fewer than 250 people worked together to improve its situation. Djara’s work is another example of someone who with limited resources and few funds has provided an effective initiative.

• The clip is an example of the work of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe documentary television series. The primary aim of the series was the maintenance of Aboriginal languages and cultures. The people of Areyonga are Pitjantjatjara with a few Arrernte and Warlpiri speakers who have married into the community. Elder Frank Djara asserts a continuing cultural tradition in his use of language and art.

• The clip includes a range of film techniques including detailed focus on Djara’s painting, footage following him into the community of Areyonga and Djara talking to camera. There are close-ups of parts of the diagnosis, and treatment such as a self-injection to the stomach. The footage of driving into the community positions the viewer to see Areyonga through Djara’s eyes and to recognise his past role as a health worker in the community.

Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia