SERIES 2, EPISODE 3 © ATOM 2013 A STUDY GUIDE BY KATY MARRINER http://www.metromagazine.com.au ISBN: 978-1-74295-381-6 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au Redfern Now Series 2 portrays contemporary inner-city Indigenous life in and around the suburb of Redfern in Sydney, New South Wales. The series offers compelling stories of ordinary people dealing with the ups and downs that life brings. Redfern Now is a drama series written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians. The series was developed in collaboration with UK screenwriter Jimmy McGovern and is produced by Blackfella Films’ Darren Dale and Miranda Dear, and presented by ABC TV and Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW. CURRICULUM For students in Years 11–12, Redfern Now has relevance to units of work in LINKS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Australian History, Cultural Redfern Now is suitable for second- Studies, English, Health and Human ary students in Years 9–12. The Development, Literature, Media, series offers stories of Aboriginal and Religion and Society, and Sociology. Torres Strait Islander peoples told by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers are advised to direct stu- peoples, allowing students to develop dents to complete activities that are an awareness and appreciation of subject-relevant and age-appropriate. Indigenous storytelling and to see the issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from their perspective. BLACKFELLA FILMS Given its insight into the present expe- riences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait For twenty years, Blackfella Films has Islander peoples, the series provides created innovative and high-quality opportunities for students to engage content across documentary and nar- in discussions about Aboriginal and rative in both short and feature formats Torres Strait Islander identity and be- for theatrical, television and online plat- longing and to examine the influences forms. Its award-winning productions of family, kinship, community, place, have screened at premier international culture and mainstream Australian film festivals including Sundance, society. Berlin and Toronto, and distinguished its team as creators and curators of In addition, the stories told by Redfern distinctive Australian content. Now are those of ordinary people dealing with the extraordinary chal- The company was founded in 1992 lenges of ordinary existence. The by writer/director/producer Rachel episodes explore universal themes Perkins who was joined by producer and issues of significance to any Darren Dale in 2002. In 2010, former audience, regardless of their cultural ABC Head of Fiction, Miranda Dear background. joined Blackfella Films as producer on the company’s drama slate. For students in Years 9–10, Redfern Now has relevance to units of work in The company’s credits include the the learning areas of English, Media documentary series First Australians, 2013 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION and History, and addresses the the feature documentary The Tall Man cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal (Tony Krawitz, 2011) the ABC telemov- and Torres Strait Islander Histories ie Mabo, the annual Indigenous film and Cultures. The series can also be festival Message Sticks (2002–2011) used to teach the general capabilities and Redfern Now Series 1. The series, of Intercultural Understanding and which went to air in November 2012, Ethical Behaviour. was the first Australian drama series 2 SERIES KEY Most Outstanding Drama Series. Dale currently serves on the board of CREATIVES Screen NSW and the Council of the written, directed and produced by Jimmy McGovern – Australian Film, Television and Radio Indigenous Australians. Story Producer School (AFTRS). Miranda Dear – Producer Visit Blackfella Films online at With his writing often based on real <http://blackfellafilms.com.au>. events or socially vital issues, Liverpool- Producer Miranda Dear began her born Jimmy McGovern has built a career with UK public broadcaster Episode Directors: Adrian Russell formidable reputation writing powerful Channel 4 Television. In 1997 she Wills, Rachel Perkins, Leah Purcell, dramas for the stage and screen. Having moved to Australia as Acquisition and Beck Cole and Wayne Blair. honed his skill working on Brookside, his Production Consultant and negotiated major breakthrough came with Cracker, Channel 4’s involvement in a number of Episode Writers: Adrian Russell one of the best-loved UK TV shows film funding and acquisition initiatives. Wills, Jon Bell, Steven McGregor, of recent history. McGovern’s other Leah Purcell and Wayne Blair. television credits include The Accused In 2000, Dear joined SBS Independent (Series 1 and 2) and The Street (Series as Senior Commissioning Editor Drama. 1–3), as well as Gunpowder, Treason & Her commissions included Harvie REDFERN NOW Plot (Gillies MacKinnon, 2004), Dockers Krumpet (Adam Elliot, 2003), RAN, So (Bill Anderson, 1999), The Lakes, Close to Home (Jessica Hobbs, 2003), Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sunday (Charles McDougall, 2002), Jewboy (Tony Krawitz, 2005), Martha’s Sydney. It is home to a significant Heart (Charles McDougall, 1999) and New Coat (Rachel Ward, 2003) and proportion of Sydney’s Indigenous Hillsborough (Charles McDougall, 1996). Roy Hollsdotter Live. She was the SBS and Torres Strait Islander popula- Commissioning Editor for the feature A detailed biography of Jimmy tion. The traditional owners of the filmsLook Both Ways (Sarah Watt, McGovern can be accessed at <http:// land are the Gadigal people who 2005), Ten Canoes (Rolf de Heer, 2006), www.screenonline.org.uk/people/ occupied the sites known today Somersault (Cate Shortland, 2004), id/510555/>. as Redfern, Erskinville, Surry Hills, Australian Rules (Paul Goldman, 2002), Darlinghurst and Paddington for up Darren Dale – Producer Walking on Water (Tony Ayres, 2002) to 40,000 years before European and The Tracker (Rolf de Heer, 2002). settlement. Darren Dale has been a company Dear also commissioned a number of director of Blackfella Films – Australia’s Indigenous dramas, including Warwick Persecution, disease and pollu- premier Indigenous production com- Thornton’s Mimi (2002) and Green Bush tion had decimated the Aboriginal pany – for over ten years. In 2008 Dale, (2005), Beck Cole’s Flat (2004) and population of Sydney by the end together with Rachel Perkins, produced Plains Empty (2005) and Wayne Blair’s of the eighteenth century. The area the landmark multi-platform history Black Talk (2002) and The Djarn Djarns now occupied by Redfern and series First Australians. (2005). owned by the government of the In 2011, Dale produced the feature In 2005, Dear joined ABC TV first as an day became known as Cleveland documentary The Tall Man for SBS, Executive Producer and then as Head of Paddocks. In 1817, Dr William which premiered at the Adelaide Film Drama. There she executive produced Redfern, William Chippendale and Festival and screened at the Toronto a number of programs including Rake, William Hutchinson were given International Film Festival and the Sisters of War (Brendan Maher, 2010), 3 land grants in the area. Subdivision International Documentary Film Festival Acts of Murder (Rowan Woods, 2009), began and the intention was to cre- (IDFA) in Amsterdam. In 2011, Dale also Curtin (Jessica Hobbs, 2007), Dirt ate housing for the upper classes. produced, together with Miranda Dear, Game, Bed of Roses, The Librarians, By the 1840s, government legisla- the ABC telemovie Mabo. Rain Shadow, East of Everything, tion pushed industry into the area Bastard Boys (Raymond Quint, 2007), Dale has also produced a number of ac- and Redfern became an industrial Valentine’s Day (Peter Duncan, 2008) claimed short films and documentaries suburb. The development of the rail and The Silence (Cate Shortland, 2006). that between them have screened at the line and establishment of Eveleigh She was the ABC commissioning editor Sundance, Aspen, Edinburgh, Toronto Railway Workshops in the latter for the feature films Samson & Delilah and Palm Springs film festivals. The part of the nineteenth century saw (Warwick Thornton, 2009), Bran Nue 2010 SBS documentary Lani’s Story was Redfern subdivided yet again to Dae (Rachel Perkins, 2009) Here I Am the recipient of a United Nations Media provide housing for the workers at (Beck Cole, 2010), Eye of the Storm Peace Award, the second consecutive the workshops. (Fred Schepisi, 2011), and the short year Dale was awarded this prize. 2013 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION film series The New Black. Dear also In 1900, La Perouse was declared With his Blackfella Films business commissioned the television series The an Aboriginal Reserve and this partner, Perkins, Dale co-curated the Slap, The Straits, Paper Giants and Miss brought subsequent change in film program for the Message Sticks Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Redfern. Aboriginal people began Indigenous Festival at the Sydney Since 2010, Dear has worked with returning from rural areas to Sydney Opera House from 2002 until 2011. Blackfella Films and produced, with in search of employment. Many Most recently Dale produced Redfern Darren Dale, Mabo and Redfern Now found work at the Eveleigh Railway Now Series 1 for ABC TV, which won Series 1. Workshops and settled in Redfern, the 2013 TV Week Logie Award for 3 until the Great Depression forced does this sequence portray Redfern them back into temporary camps in La and the people who live there? Perouse. How does the series portray Redfern and the people who live From the end of World War Two, the there? Draw on evidence from Aboriginal population in Redfern grew each episode to support your and a sense of community evolved. response. By the early 1960s, Redfern was home • Working as a class, discuss why to over 12,000 Aboriginal people, the filmmakers chose to set the some employed in local industry and series in Redfern. others who were unemployed and • Create an infographic about the underprivileged. New opportunities suburb of Redfern. and the freedom afforded to Aboriginal Begin your research at the people by the National Referendum Australian Bureau of Statistics: of 1967 encouraged the migration of <http://www.censusdata.abs.