A city skyline at sunset
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From Sand to Celluloid

From Sand to Celluloid

Groundbreaking anthology of short films from First Nations filmmakers

The Sand to Celluloid initiative was developed by the Australian Film Commission's newly established ‘Indigenous Branch’ in 1993, which was led by Walter Saunders.

As part of the initiative, ten projects were developed with six selected to go into production. Through this, six First Nations writer/directors received funding to make short films, with the recipients including Warwick Thornton with Payback, Darlene Johnson with Two Bob Mermaid and Richard Frankland with No Way to Forget.

Find out more through Screen Australia.

From Sand to Celluloid - Round Up: Heroes
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Hugo Hutton (Ben Oxenbould) sitting on a bench near Central Station, Sydney, is joined by a streetlady (Lillian Crombie). She is drinking from a bottle in a brown paper bag, Hugo is eating a Mars Bar. After exchanging sideways glances, the wine is swapped for the Mars Bar, and the two enjoy their treats. Desi Little (Gary Cooper) passes the streetlady as she is leaving, and calls her Aunty. Streetlady turns into an alley where she is accosted by a group of young hoods. Desi and Hugo run to her rescue. A police siren in the background scares the youths off. Streetlady tells Hugo and Desi she was doing fine without their heroics.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Round Up: 'Nurse to you'
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Desi Little (Gary Cooper) is in a hospital bed. Nurse Brenda (Rhoda Roberts) tends to him. In the opposite bed is Hugo Hutton (Ben Oxenbould). He is asleep on his back, a cowboy hat covering his face. A small lady in a wheelchair named Esther (Ella-Mei Wong) wheels over to Hugo and takes his hat off to look at Hugo’s face. Hugo, woken by Desi’s laughter, snatches his hat from Esther. Desi and Hugo are being discharged from the hospital, and according to hospital policy, are wheelchair bound. The two jostle each other in the wheel chairs and race to the hospital exit.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - No Way to Forget: No future
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Night-time. White lines disappear into the darkness as a solitary car drives along a lonely stretch of country road. Files stacked beside the driver tell us that he is a field officer for the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody. He is an Indigenous man (David Ngoombujarra). Flashback: a young boy (Geoff Tye) sits beside a parked car, cradling himself. Tears stream down his face. He tells us the reason why he drinks and smokes yarndi (marijuana) – because he looked into the future and realised he didn’t have one. Francis turns to take the boy’s outstretched hand. Suddenly we are back in the present, and Francis’s hand is extending towards his own vehicle in the present tense, and the illusion of the boy is no more. The car speeds off into the night.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - No Way to Forget: Spirit work
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Night-time. A man behind the wheel of a car. A desolate road. In voice-over, Shane Francis (David Ngoombujarra) talks about the spirits that are present in the work he does as a field officer for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Flashback: Francis walks into the office. A solicitor (Molly Brumm) seated at her desk, watches Francis cross the floor with a towel in one hand and a towel rack in the other. Francis attempts to tie the bulky towel into a knot by weaving it through the towel rack. He glances to his side. Beside him is a black-and-white photo that depicts a young man (Caine Muir) hanging by a towel tied in a knot. Francis is disturbed by not being able to imitate the technique by which the young man alleged hanged himself.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - No Way to Forget: 'Will the storms ever end?'
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

A hand fumbles for a box of matches on the floor of a car, lost amongst other junk. Shane Francis (David Ngoombujarra) one hand on the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road, strikes the match with his freed hand. Flashback: a young woman (Kylie Belling) is seated by a fire. Shane Francis sits listening to her. We see the young woman struggling as two men wrestle her to the ground. She tells us how they arrested her before they raped her. The two men we see are dressed in police uniforms, behind the unfolding brutality, a police car is parked. Later, seated back in is office Shane Francis receives a phone call. The voice of the man (Joe Foster) on the other end tells him the woman has been killed, having been bashed then stabbed through the eye. Francis back in his car now driving into the morning, asks, ‘I wonder if the storm will ever end?’.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Payback: Tomorrow payback
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

It is lockdown in the jail cells. The light falls across inmate Paddy (George Djilaynga) sitting on his bed and singing begins. Paddy looks out through the jail windows searching for the source. A spirit man (Charlie Matjiwi) walks down the corridor of the jail, towards the inmate’s cell. The spirit man enters the jail cell and tells the inmate tomorrow is the day for payback. Paddy clings to the wall, afraid.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Payback: Take you out another way
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

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

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Black Man Down: Drowning the sorrow
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

A young boy lays unconscious on the sand. He is helped to his feet by his mother (Roslyn Trillot-Watson) and father (Ted Hopkins). A white woman (Jo-Anna Lawson) takes young Waxy (Jarred Wall) by the hand, and leads him towards the city skyline of Brisbane. A Warrior (Jeffrey Locke) done up in traditional dress empties two flagons of wine over the heads of the man and woman who drink thirstily. Waxy runs from the white woman back towards his parents but slams into a wall. Back in the present Waxy falls against the wall and then to the floor of the jail. A police officer (Karen Crone) and a priest (Andrew Booth) talk about Waxy. A spirit woman watches the goings on.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Black Man Down: Life and death battle
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Waxy (David Hudson) stands in the foreground. In the background by a fire, an Aboriginal warrior (Jeffrey Locke) in traditional dress throws Waxy a snake which becomes a belt when Waxy catches it. Back in the present Waxy fixes the same belt to the roof of the cell as he recites his hardship. The spirit woman tells him that his people need him. Waxy sits and talks to the spirit woman who identifies herself as the spirit of the great Kangaroo Dreaming named Mulweena (Linda Johnson). We hear a screech it is the death bird calling for Waxy.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Two Bob Mermaid: ‘Swimmin’… that’s for white fellas’
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

Aboriginal kids cling to the fence that keeps them out of the pool area. In the pool, Koorine (Carrie Prosser) races a young girl (Megan Drury). They talk about being like Dawn Fraser and Esther Williams. Koorine’s friend convinces her to sign up for the annual competition and introduces her to Eleanor (Celia Keane), who calls the Aboriginal kids outside the fence ‘a bunch of monkeys’. Koorine talks to her mother (Tess Leahy) about being a swimmer like her heroes. Her mother tells her that swimming is for white fellas.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons
From Sand to Celluloid - Two Bob Mermaid: Crossing the street
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
511515
Year:
Year

A small hut nestled in the hills. Koorine (Carrie Prosser) is sitting and writing by the light of a lamp. Her brother teases her as he walks past. Koorine fantasises about being a glamorous swimmer. Aboriginal kids, Koorine amongst them, walk up the street laughing. Koorine sees May (Megan Drury) on the other side of the street. She crosses the road to speak to her white friends. Koorine’s mother’s boyfriend (David Page) pulls up in a truck, and all the Aboriginal kids except Koorine get into the back. Koorine instead walks off with her white friends.

Summary by Romaine Moreton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons