This year at the Redland Performing Arts Centre (RPAC), we will see the first year of Nandeebie Screen Indigenous Film Festival – A film and screen event showcasing First Nations filmmakers from around the world.
Filmmaker and Festival Producer Tamara Whyte says this festival isn't a new idea. “It was a couple of years in conversation, in the making. I programmed some films for Pacific Tides Festival that was run out of RPAC in 2015 and that got a really good reception and response and I thought... There might be an opportunity to do something a bit bigger and and broader.”
And broad it is, showcasing films from the Pacific to the Americas, The Arctic Circle to the deserts of the Sahara.
'I Matai'
“In terms of the philosophy behind it, I was open to films that weren't solely Indigenous productions – that weren't solely produced, directed and written [by them]. I was open to work where Indigenous people might not have been in those top roles but the work really paid homage or respectfully spoke about people's stories and struggles and I think by that we've been able to get quite an eclectic group of movies.”
“And also, bringing in African cinema and saying 'why are we not looking at ourselves as part of a wider conversation? Why do we get stereotyped and pigeonholed but yet we're quite capable ourselves of leading the conversation?'.”
'The Road To Home'
The festival runs over two days, showcasing 12 films as well as discussion, and will run in conjunction with a gallery exhibition of media works from Indigenous artists at Redland Art Gallery. Further to that there will be a range of community films shown on the RPAC lawn for free.
“I was really hardcore from the beginning, that this has to be affordable,” Tamara says. “We have to be able to compete with cinemas and video on demand presence – so it puts it in a really tight market. But I think [about] what we've got, and how the edge is actually being able to say to people from all around the world, 'in two days look where you'll be going to and look what we can bring to you as a package'. For film buffs, for people interested in environmental issues, and gender politics and Indigenous issues and just people who generally support the arts... There's a lot there.”
'Navajo Math Circles'
I ask Tamara about her pick of the festival, and she says 'My Bicycle', the first ever Indigenous language film out of Bangladesh. “It has so much subtle commentary and beauty to it. I feel really passionate about trying to support that because I get a sense of the difficulty they've had. It never got a censorship stamp of approval, so it never got released in its own country. To be able to be right on the other side of the world, and give a voice to these people, is amazing.”
