Catherine (Sophie Lee) is terrified by a Mimi sculpture that has come to life in her apartment. She surveys the blood-like tracks that have appeared on the walls. Clearly frightened, she grabs a kitchen knife and tries to dial emergency services. She then confronts the Mimi but it remains inanimate.
Later, the Mimi appears in her kitchen and starts rummaging in the fridge. It asks Catherine her name and when she screams it also screams in fright and runs away. Catherine then phones a friend and asks if they 'know any real Aborigines’.
Jonathan (Aaron Pedersen) arrives, but when he sees the Mimi and it asks him his name he also screams. Summary by Romaine Moreton
Thornton not only pokes fun at the ignorance of conservative white purchasers of Indigenous art, but also exploits the paradigm of 'authentic Aboriginality’. The same ignorance Catherine (Sophie Lee) displays in relation to the culture that produced the art she has purchased for investment purposes, extends to the racist stereotypes that persist in dominant culture about the concept of 'real’ or 'authentic Aborigines’.
A short drama about a young Western art collector who gets more than she’s bargained for when she purchases Indigenous art pieces that include a Mimi statue and a painting of a barramundi.
A clever film from director–writer Warwick Thornton (Kaytej), that satirises the Indigenous art industry, poking fun at white art connoisseurs who purchase Indigenous art purely for its investment value. Richard Bell (Kooma, Kamilaroi, Jiman, Goreng Goreng) won the 20th Telstra National Aboriginal Arts Award in August 2003, his winning entry was titled Scienta E Metaphysica (Bell’s Theorem), or Aboriginal Art Its a White Thing, and is an Indigenous artist’s perspective on the Aboriginal art industry satirised by Thornton in Mimi.
Indigenous art is a growth industry that came into prominence during the 70s, and implicit within the notion of authentic Indigenous art is also the idea of the authentic Aborigine. Thornton exploits the idea of the authentic Aborigine when Catherine (Sophie Lee), having bought two pieces of Indigenous art, one being a Mimi statue which mysteriously comes to life and haunts her apartment, asks her friend if she knows any authentic Aborigines who can get rid of the Mimi presence for her. In fact, Aboriginal art is required to have a certificate of authenticity to prevent fraudulent reproductions, and it is this correlation between the idea of an authentic Aborigine and authentic Aboriginal art that Thornton comically manipulates in this short film.
Thornton is a respected cinematographer as well as a writer–director of film. As a cinematographer, he worked on films such as Queen of Hearts, Radiance, Plains Empty, Flat and Buried Country. His other works include Green Bush, The Old Man and the Inland Sea, and Photographic Memory: A Portrait of Mervyn Bishop.
Other films in the AFC Indigenous Branch drama initiative Dreaming in Motion are Black Talk, Flat, Shit Skin and Turn Around (all 2002).
Notes by Romaine Moreton
This clip shows Catherine (Sophie Lee) terrified by a Mimi sculpture that has come to life in her apartment. Catherine surveys the bloodlike tracks that have appeared on the walls. Clearly frightened, she grabs a kitchen knife and tries to dial emergency services. She then confronts the Mimi but it remains inanimate. Later, the Mimi appears in the kitchen and starts rummaging in the fridge. It asks Catherine her name and when she screams it also screams in fright and runs away. Catherine then phones a friend and asks if they 'know any real Aborigines’. Jonathan (Aaron Pedersen) arrives, but when he sees the Mimi and it asks him his name he also screams.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
Catherine surveys bloodlike tracks that the Mimi sculpture has made on the walls of her apartment. Clearly frightened, she grabs a kitchen knife and tries to dial emergency services.
Recorded phone message You have dialled 911. 911 is not the number for emergency services. 000 is the number for emergency calls. Please hold and we will connect you to the first available operator.
Catherine wrenches open a cupboard door and confronts the Mimi sculpture, brandishing the kitchen knife at it, but it remains inanimate. She closes the cupboard door.
Later, the Mimi appears in the kitchen and starts rummaging in the fridge. Catherine hears it behind her while she drinks a glass of water at the sink. Terrified, she grabs a knife again, slowly turning around towards the sound.
Mimi sculpture Hello! What’s your name?
Catherine screams in fright and the Mimi sculpture also screams and runs away. The cupboard door slams behind it and then we hear it speaking and giggling.
Mimi sculpture Pink titty woman.
Catherine phones a friend.
Catherine Hey, I know it’s early but do you know any real Aborigines?
A young Indigenous man is outside her door, smoking. He rings the doorbell and Catherine lets him in after he drops his cigarette. He looks around, surveying the tracks left by the Mimi.
Jonathan Name’s Jonathan. Came as quick as I could. But, you know, blackfella time. Well, I have to know who your interior designer is.
Catherine points with the kitchen knife.
Catherine There.
Jonathan What, there? Pretty kinky, isn’t it?
Jonathan opens the cupboard door and looks at the Mimi.
Mimi sculpture Hey, what’s your name?
Jonathan screams in terror and the Mimi screams back at him.
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.