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From Sand to Celluloid - Payback: Take you out another way
Title:
From Sand to Celluloid - Payback: Take you out another way
NFSA ID
511515
Year
1996
Warnings
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
The inmate Paddy (George Djilaynga) is given his possessions. He picks up his watch and adjusts it. It begins to work again. Paddy is told to sign the paper ‘Paddy’ and have a nice life. The jail is unlocked by a guard. Paddy is led from the jail. Paddy stands before the final door to freedom. Figures move beneath the door. Someone is waiting for him. The guard offers to take him out another way.
Summary by Romaine Moreton
Warwick Thornton’s Payback is the story of the Western legal system and the Indigenous legal system. The concept of payback in this film suggests that Indigenous law is equally enforceable. Shot in black-and-white, Payback is one of Thornton’s earliest attempts at drama, his later dramatic works including films such as Green Bush and Mimi.
Payback Synopsis
A short drama about payback, the Indigenous traditional law system. After 20 years, Paddy (George Djilaynga) is released from jail into tribal law.
Notes by Romaine Moreton
Production company
Blackfella Films
Producer
Penny McDonald
Supervising producer
Graeme Isaac
Director
Warwick Thornton
Writer
Warwick Thornton
Cast
Peter Datjing, George Djilaynga, Charlie Matjiwi, Larry Yapuma
Acknowledgements
Produced with the assistance of the Indigenous Branch of the Australian Film Commission
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.