In my father's country.

Australia : Tarpaulin Films/Mayfan Pty Ltd, 2008.

[Subiaco] : Kanopy, [2014?]

1 streaming video (80 min.)

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"In one of the most remote corners of indigenous Australia a boy will soon become a man. His father has told him that his initiation will be soon. This film documents a rare and intimate moment in the life of a family living in Dhuruputjpi, a remote indigenous community in north-east Arnhem Land. Set against the political backdrop of Government pressure to close 'un-economic outstations' this small community is doing its best to integrate the understandings of its ancestors with the demands of life in the globalised 21st Century. Told simultaneously through the eyes of a seven year old boy and his community elders, we are invited to witness the indigenous world of one of the most inaccessible communities in Australia. We see the challenges and joys of a society desperate to shield its younger generations from the corruptions of the individualist West, yet equally desperate to encourage computer skills and English literacy. The battleground may be familiar, but the day-to-day challenges are oddly surprising. How can the song of Baraltja - the Lightning Snake Creator Being - compete with the slick videos of 50 Cent and Eminem? Set against this background of social struggle the Oldest Living Culture in the world has never before been filmed so intimately. With powerful ceremonial footage In My Father's Country is ultimately a personal film about a boy on the cusp of manhood being taught how to live in the land of his ancestors. This is the intimate story of one families' struggle, and of one boys' passage into the ancient laws of men."--Kanopy website.

ASP-AVON OCLC KB.

Images / Online / Video & Film

Australian languages

November 15, 2019

Ethnographic video online, volume 3

Writer and director, Tom Murray; producer, Graeme Isaac.

1107885 Kanopy Streaming