900 “This is a film about a building...... a city... a community and 900 neighbours” A STUDYGUIDE by Marguerite O’hara

www.metromagazine.com.au

www.theeducationshop.com.au Introduction 900 Neighbours is the story of a high-rise building and the people who call it home. The Northcott Estate is the largest public housing estate in Australia. The 591 apartments are home to over 1000 people. Its fourteen stories tower ominously over the gentrified inner-city Sydney area of Surry Hills. (Northcott and Surry Hills are in Sydney and should not be confused with the suburbs of Northcote and Surrey Hills.) Prior to the 1950s the area was a slum district and the vision then was that the new high-rise would create a dream new community for low-income earners. The design of the Northcott building reflected the latest Swedish housing design. In 1958, the NSW Minister for Housing said: “The block of flats to be erected on this block of land will be very much like a lot of apart- ment houses I saw in Stockholm, Sweden; it will be very beautiful indeed.” Fifty years on, this film takes us inside the lives of some of the people who live there. The documentary follows residents taking part in an outdoor show called StickybrickS that ran at Northcott during the Sydney Festival in January 2006. This multimedia performance was the result of a dynamic collaboration between tenants, arts organization Big hART, and artists includ- ing , Kerry Armstrong and Lex Marinos. One of the residents describes life at Northcott as ‘a multi-confused situation’ and this documentary explores this in a ‘warts and all’ style that is both honest and inspiring.

Synopsis

In February 2006 Australia’s media Built in the 1950s in the post-war ef- ering addicts and those battling was rocked by the headline, fort to clear slums and create afford- serious drug and alcohol issues, ‘Skeleton Man Found in Housing able housing for those in need, it was Northcott became a haven for Commission Flat’. The man had opened with pride and joy in 1961. those in crisis. died six months previously, but And a big one. when finally found, all that remained It was the largest Public Housing of the man was a skeleton. Estate in the Southern Hemisphere, featuring the latest Swedish design Just what sort of place could such and housed a thousand people. a thing occur in? That place is Northcott Housing Estate. The But now the story is very different. overwhelming physical presence of As the Public Housing system came the building is arresting, as it would increasingly under pressure to house be given its history ... the mentally ill, ex-prisoners, recov-

 But Northcott is also the home of some incredible Sydney characters...

Sandy Henderson is the Sandy, Mark and Dolly are just today, as the drama of the Chairperson of the Northcott three of the tenants involved StickybrickS show unfolds in Tenants Association and she has in a show called StickybrickS the Northcott car park. Other made improving the conditions at - a performance piece put on by characters come to the Northcott Northcott her life’s work. After beating the tenants in collaboration with building, giving a context to the place. a 10-year heroin addiction and being Big hART - an Arts organ-ization in and out of jail, this role has given working inside Northcott for three These range from the tireless her a new hope in life. years aiming to give a voice to the community worker Dominic Grenot, tenants of Northcott. to The Honourable Lord Mayor of Mark Skerry is grateful to be given Sydney, Clover Moore and the NSW a home at Northcott because he’s As part of the illustrious Sydney Minister for Housing, Cherie Burton. Festival 2006, StickybrickS unveiled spent the previous twenty-three years The collaborating artists include living on the streets. The stability Northcott to Sydney’s elite at fifty renowned theatre director Scott of actually having a home is finally bucks a ticket! Rankin, celebrity actors Kerry allowing him to get his mental illness During filming, the tenants Armstrong, Leah Purcell and under control. made mini-documentaries about Lex Marinos, and musician Jackie Orszaczky. Dolly Wilson moved to Northcott Northcott with the filmmakers. in 1961 and was the first EVER tenant This material is incorporated But the biggest character in the film is the building itself. Haunting, of the place. And despite the dramatic into the documentary. ominous, grand and watchful it change she still lives there proudly The tenants’ voices navigate us stands witness to all these events today. ‘You’ll have to take me out through the fascinating history of in the car park, as it has done feet first,’ she jokes. the place, enmeshed with life there since 1961.

This is a film about a building ... a city ...a community and 900 neighbours ..

 About the filmmaker Curriculum Relevance Brendan Fletcher Director of 900 Neighbours, This documentary deals with a range of issues about has previously made films focused on the Kimberley communities and how they function and will be of interest region of North-Western Australia, with a series to students in the middle to senior secondary levels in the of films made in partnership with the musicians, following studies. It will also be of interest to tertiary students the Pigram Brothers of Broome. These films - such studying in areas of Public Policy, Home and Community as Dendy Award winner Kulli Foot and Saltwater Care and Architecture. Country (about the Pigram Brother’s music) - show • SOSE (HSIE) - 900 Neighbours offers a fascinating his commitment to a highly collaborative filmmaking example of how, within the built environment, style and his interest in community-based living. a particular style of housing can affect the social Brendan also co-directed Russell Crowe’s Texas dynamic of a group. and Leah Purcell’s Black Chicks Talking. • English - the film presents a range of characters by employing a multimedia approach that does not focus exclusively on interviews. • Theatre Studies - the preparations for the multimedia performance by the tenants offer Who’s who at Northcott? an interesting example of how a theatrical production Residents Bob, Brian, Charmaine, Colin, Connie, can be developed and performed within a community Dolly, George Grant, Henry, Mandy, Mark, Norma, setting. It also shows how socially committed arts Pete, Sandy (Chairperson Surry Hills Public Tenants’ activities can become a catalyst for change. Association), Sasha, Shirley and all the other tenants. • Media Studies - the approach employed to tell Others Scott Rankin - creative director of Big hART a story about a diverse group of individuals provides productions, a multi art form organization which a model and example of how students could develop creates art within so-called ‘marginalized their own presentation about a place and the people communities’. who live there Dominic Grenot Community development worker at Northcott Clover Moore Independent member for Bligh in the NSW parliament and Mayor of Sydney Senior Constable Brett Degenhardt Surry Hills police officer Cherie Burton New South Wales Minister for Housing Kerry Armstrong, Leah Purcell, Lex Marinos (actors)

 Where do we live? Many Australians dream of owning their own home on their own block of land. However for many people this is simply not possible, for a range of reasons, many of them economic. Buying your own house means you need to have a steady income, regular employment and be able to make mortgage payments on a housing loan. You probably also need to own a car as public transport in areas further from major Australian cities is not always available. Housing affordability has declined substantially over the past decade and increasingly many people need to rent accommodation in either the public or private housing sector. Buying property is simply unaffordable. Some reasons for this include: • Average house prices relative to income have almost doubled in the past decade • Proportion of first-home buyers has fallen by thirty per cent • Average monthly payments on new mortgage loans have increased by around fifty per cent • Proportion of low-rent dwellings has fallen by fifteen per cent • Effective opportunities to rent public housing have fallen by about twenty per cent • On any night, around 100,000 Australians are homeless

Student Activity 1 Pre-viewing questions Before watching 900 Neighbours, respond tothe following questions, either in writing or in group discussions. 1. Apart from providing basic shelter from the weather, what are the most important aspects of housing for you? Place numbers beside the statements that indicate your priorities, i.e. number 1 - most important to number 17 - least important. When you have numbered this list, add several of your own ideas that reflect your ideas of what a ‘good place to live’ means to you.

A place where I feel secure Parks and green spaces nearby Centre for family life

Enough space to have a room Close to shops and other services Affordable rent or mortgage of my own Easily accessible to a major Pleasant views or outlook Private outdoor space, city or large town e.g. a garden or private Low crime area balcony/terrace Good neighbours Mix of different people Close to friends Quiet environment in age and background

Near to good safe public transport Near to school or workplace Privacy

 2. Government Housing Authorities no longer build high-rise apartment blocks for public rental tenants, yet in Australia’s large cities, private high-rise developments are going up everywhere. Look at the data below and consider this situation. Why might it be so? Number of people living in high-rise units

Private housing sector 400 Public rental

300

200

100

0

1981 1986 1991 1996 2001

The proportion of all high-rise residents who were living in a unit rented from a state or territory housing author- ity steadily declined from twenty-eight per cent in 1981 to twenty-three per cent (1986), nineteen per cent (1991), fourteen per cent (1996) and then to ten per cent in 2001. This contrasts with the strong growth in high-rise private housing residents which has outstripped growth in high- rise public housing for tenants. It also reflects changes in government housing policies over the period - from primarily the provision of low-cost public rental housing to the provision of additional forms of housing support such as rent assistance.2 3. If secure, affordable and appropriate housing is believed to be essential to people’s wellbeing, why is it so hard to come by? Do Federal and State governments give housing a high enough priority?

Active listening and watching of the film the camera moves between her face and those As you watch 900 Neighbours, pay particular attention of the Northcott people, particularly Dominic Grenot. to the following three elements of the film. 3. Purpose of the film 1. Soundtrack Documentaries often tell a story for a purpose that While we do hear music in the film in the early scenes includes but goes beyond entertainment. Sometimes and particularly when Sara sings her song, Grey Room, the filmmaker is committed to bringing our attention many of the sounds are the background noises of living to an issue he or she believes is important, such as in Northcott. Listen carefully and identify the different in the recent film An Inconvenient Truth which is a sounds that provide much of the soundtrack of this film. powerful plea for people to be aware of the increasing dangers of global warming or The Constant Gardener, 2. Editing a film about the consequences of pharmaceutical The editing, placement and juxtaposition of scenes and companies’ actions in third world countries or Super sounds can tell us a lot about the filmmaker’s intentions. Size Me, about the health issues related to the fast- Here are just three to watch for. Look for others. food industry. When Dolly, one of the older residents is having her por- As you watch 900 Neighbours consider what you think trait painted, Scott tells us she is like royalty as she cut the the filmmaker’s purpose is. Is this film likely to change ribbon when the building was opened. The next scene is peoples’ perceptions about an aspect of our world, or of Queen Elizabeth II visiting the building in 1963. Who is is it more of a celebration of peoples’ lives? If there is the real queen of Northcott and what does this mean? a message, what do you think it is and will this film help it to be heard and understood? As Dominic is asking about why the large bricks used as part of the set are white, the film cuts to George claiming (Some of the film’s participants’ views on this are included they should be black. at the end of this guide) While the Minister is launching the brochure at the end

 Student Activity 2 7. What are some of the violent to be on the pension in a public and disturbing incidents that housing environment and experience After viewing the film people talk about that happen equal levels of depression. Share your answers to these at Northcott? c) Brian, a resident, says, questions. 8. Who lives at Northcott? Here Anyone could come and live in Northcott history and the people are three different perspectives Northcott ... You could be a doctor who live there about who lives at Northcott. and file for bankruptcy and you could 1. When was the Northcott a) be living in Northcott ... It doesn’t mean Housing Estate opened? • Home to about 1000 people that you mentally have a health problem or you’re frail ... You’ve just had a tough 2. Describe the physical layout • Many live alone turn in life. Me and my father ... you and appearance of the building? • Average age of residents know, we were a middle class family, 3. What were some of the things is fifty-eight [we] just couldn’t afford to sustain that that happened at Northcott • Fifty different countries life anymore. You feel a bad stigma living that led to the negative media of birth represented in Rose Bay for half your life, and then publicity in 2002? • Many residents have physical you end up here ... living in the Starship Enterprise. 4. Who were some of the groups needs, drug and alcohol issues, and individuals who became and mental health issues What are the good and bad aspects of housing people involved with Northcott residents • Ninety-five per cent of similar ages, economic to change the negative of residents receive aged circumstances or ethnic back- community perceptions? or disability benefits ground in the same building, 5. What are some of the b) Scott Rankin, the creative e.g. elderly retired people, people on low incomes or social community initiatives that director of Big hART productions security, students or people have been developed at says of this project at Northcott, predominantly from one ethnic Northcott over the past I saw first-hand how public housing background? four years? communities are used as a resource for 9. How is the role of the police 6. Provide a brief outline of the mental health, as fragile and vulnerable presented in this film? life history of some of the individuals are deposited together as Northcott residents whose stories the first step back into the world. Just 10. Describe the role of Dominic are featured in this documentary. a block away we find well-resourced Grenot, the Community worker Choose from Mark Skerry, Dolly individuals and families living in very at Northcott. Wilson, Sandy Henderson, Sasha different circumstances. It’s one thing 11. What positive things are shown and Charmaine, George, to experience depression when you are to come out of the preparations or Shirley and Colin. financially supported and quite another for, and performance of, the production, StickybrickS?

 We chose very carefully the idea of creating a pristine white space in the midst of what could be considered ‘unclean’ and ‘unsafe’ as the common area of public housing. What is George’s view about the most appropriate colour to use? About the final scene where the word ‘Hello’ is projected on to a large screen, Scott says, ...this was a message for encouragement of community interaction. We clearly made a strong choice with this message as it was then translated into the Minister’s press release on adopting a ‘say hello to your neighbour’ policy. What are some of the other theatrical and visual elements used to present the story of Northcott in StickybrickS? 5. In explaining the process of making the film about the Northcott experience, the Director said, ‘We didn’t make a film ABOUT the tenants, we made it WITH them.’ The same could be said of the production. How do the people of Northcott tell their stories in the production? Consider the contributions of Mandy and Mark. 6. Whenever I think about this film, I think we were blessed with the ultimate character - Northcott itself ... a really old, complex person. And we interview all that person’s friends, look at archive footage of them growing up ... that’s what this film is - a character film ... where the main character is the building. (Brendan Fletcher, filmmaker) How is the building itself used as an integral part 12. What happened at Northcott in February, 2006, of both the production and the film? Make a list sixteen days after the performance? of some of the names residents and others give the building, e.g. Starship Enterprise, the old bitch. 13. How did different groups respond to this? a) The Northcott residents b) The media c) The politicians, particularly the NSW Minister for Housing 14. The Minister for Housing is shown at Northcott with a pamphlet entitled ‘Say Hello to your Neighbours’ towards the end of the film. a) Is there any evidence in this film that people at Northcott do not look out for their neighbours? b) Is a lack of awareness of what is happening in the lives of neighbours confined to people living in public housing? What might be some of the reasons for not being aware of neighbours? Student Activity 3 A multimedia performance - StickybrickS... and 900 Neighbours 1. How does Scott Rankin, creative director of StickybrickS introduce the ideas involved in staging the production to the residents at the Community Centre? 2. What are the six themes chosen to tell the stories in the production? 3. Describe the different representations of the ‘dance’ theme shown in the rehearsals. 4. Scott Rankin has described the use of large white bricks in the production this way,

 7. How are the portraits of the tenants by Robert often comes well into planning or production, should Hannaford incorporated into StickybrickS? reflect the chosen theme) 8. What do you think the title StickybrickS means 4. Who is your intended audience? and is it a good title for this production? 5. Which of these elements will you incorporate into Student Activity 4 the film or production? Over to You - My Neighbourhood a. Interviews If you were to present an account of your neighbourhood, b. Video footage you could do it in a number of different ways, but so that c. Still photos, both old and recent everyone has a chance to contribute with their particular d. Artworks area of expertise, this activity is about planning a multi- e. Historical images or footage media style production that will offer an insight into the neighbourhood, employing a number of styles of f. Music and sounds presentation. Scott Rankin employed a number of cycles g. Lighting to present several different themes. This may be a good h. Dance way to start. Whether you proceed with the production i. Poems/letters/written accounts is up to you. You could adapt some of the themes used in StickybrickS or select your own themes. j. Important local places such as sports grounds,local clubs, a park, the cemetery, the beach, the shops Remember, stories can be told in many ways, using different media such as images, words, animation, k. Voice-over/narrative music and dance. Try to use different ways of telling 6. Once you have agreed on the theme and style of your stories, those that seem most appropriate for the production, you will need to allocate members of your individuals in your production. group to take responsibility for different elements, Here is a suggested list of decisions to make e.g. Who will be the director, the sound recorder, the and jobs to allocate: interviewer, the camera person, the editor, the collector of historical footage and other important 1. Will you choose a street, a block of flats, materials, the narrator, the lighting person, etc? a small community such as a country town, a caravan park, a group share house or even a suburb? 2. How many individuals/families will you include in the program? 3. What style or theme will the program use? Will it focus more on people or place? (Your title, which

 Final judgements about the film from participants and observers ... it’s introduced a lot of people to each other. It’s brought out a lot of people that haven’t been involved in stuff before. Charmaine, resident I think the audience response to how unusual and different it was ... and then seeing so many tenants. I don’t know what they expected, but I think the show went beyond the audience’s expectations of something you put on in public housing. Sandy Henderson, Chair of the Community Centre StickybrickS was really about people sharing their stories of life here at Northcott. Their stories are grounded in the realities of everyday life, including the tenants’ journey here, love, death (loss), dancing, solitude and children. Dominic Grenot, community worker at Northcott ... a joyous slice of life, a self-portrait in hope, possibility and pop-songs ... Stephen Dunne, Herald critic This production is an example of the balance being maintained between creating a beautiful and laudable expression of art which also carries with it a message of strong social impact. Scott Rankin, creative director of Big hARTS

References Other Websites Other films and television programs about where we live http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/history.htm Both Neighbours and Home and Away, prime time A brief history of public housing in New South Wales long-running TV soaps show different worlds to (Accessed 22 July 2006) 900 Neighbours. 1 M. Berry, ‘Show me the Money: Financing More Af- In 2004 a film called Neighbours (the remix) was released, fordable Housing’, paper presented at VCOSS Annual offering a different take on the suburban dream we see Congress, 2004. http://mams.rmit.edu.au/ea5ncpup56st1.doc on television soaps. (Accessed 22 July 2006) http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/09/1086749770507.html 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data Sydney Morning Herald article about the film Neighbours Marguerite O’Hara is a freelance education writer (the remix) a series of short films about a variety of from Melbourne. neighbourhoods and suburban life in Australia. Some of these short films cast a satirical eye over the popular and long-running soap Neighbours, set in (Accessed 22 July 2006) http://www.if.com.au/events/2004/05/24.html Inside Film article describing the different stories told in Neighbours (the remix) (Accessed 22 July 2006)

10 This study guide was produced by ATOM © ATOM 2006 [email protected] For more information on Screen Education magazine or to download other free study guides visit www.metromagazine.com.au For hundreds of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit www.theeducationshop.com.au

Distributed by ABC Commercial. For a custom copy, please contact ABC Content Sales on 1300 650 587. E: [email protected] or visit www.abc.net.au/programsales

11