900 Neighbours “This Is a Film About a Building
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900 Neighbours “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 Melbourne 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 Leah Purcell, 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 . 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.