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The Sapphires Wayne Blair, 103 mins, Australia, 2012 Education Resource 1 The Nightingale Philippe Muyl, 100 Mins, China/France, 2013 Education Resource 2 CONTENTS About this resource ...........................................................2 THE SAPPHIRES 3 Some Background: Filling in the Gaps ................. 3 History and Stories of the Past ......................................... 3 Aboriginal History after Colonisation ................................. 4 Australian and International History .................................. 6 The Sapphires: Exploring the Film ........................ 7 Initial Response to the Film ............................................... 7 The Message ....................................................................7 Narrative ...........................................................................8 Character ........................................................................11 Themes ...........................................................................12 The Production Context .................................................. 13 Film Analysis in the Classroom ........................... 17 Reading the Film .............................................................17 Characterisation ..............................................................17 Narrative .........................................................................20 Close Analysis: Production Elements ............................. 21 1 About this resource This resource has been written by ACMI educator Susan Bye to accompany the screening program The Sapphires. It includes a final section: Film Analysis in the Classroom. 2 THE SAPPHIRES The Sapphires has been described as a feel-good movie about bad things. Adapted from Tony Briggs’ play inspired by his mother’s experience as an entertainer in war- torn Vietnam, The Sapphires tells the story of four women from an Aboriginal mission community who achieve success entertaining American troops. Some Background: Filling in the Gaps History and Stories of the Past The Sapphires is a wonderful mix of personal, family, Aboriginal, national and international history. Personal and Family History Writer Tony Briggs used his mother’s personal history of entertaining troops in Vietnam as the launching place for The Sapphires story: I really started writing the story of the Sapphires when I was having conversations with mum, probably in I'd say 2000. I noticed that she would be mentioning Vietnam a lot. And I knew about it, of course, but I'd never really asked her about it. It occurred to me that there was a lot of history that I've been missing out on simply because I haven't been asking. ... • Watch the ABC interview with Laurel and Tony Briggs. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3558633.htm • Read the interview with the Sapphires about their experience:http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history- culture/2012/09/the-sapphires-where-are-they-now/ • This article in The Australian offers an excellent overview of the creation of The Sapphires: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/tony-briggss-film-the- sapphires-is-as-good-as-gold/story-fn9n8gph-1226434996504 Tony Briggs was 33 before he really started to think about the extraordinary experience his mother, a shy Aboriginal teenager, had had in Vietnam. Sometimes people don’t want to talk about the past, and it is important to respect that. However, often people are pleased to have the opportunity to share their stories. • What are some of the memorable events that members of your family or some of your older friends have experienced in their lives? • Are there stories that you are missing out on because you have not asked the right questions? Explain. • How might you go about finding out more about the experiences of people close to you? Why is this important? • Think about and describe something you have done or experienced that has had a lasting impact. Explain why. 3 • Watch Jade Colgan’s digital story about family stories, their significance and how easily they can be lost: http://generator.acmi.net.au/education-themes/power- stories/why-do-we-create-stories/my-dreaming Aboriginal History after Colonisation The story of The Sapphires is set in Cummeragunja, a mission settlement on the banks of the Murray. In fact, as Laurel Briggs explains in the ABC interview, she grew up in Shepparton. Nevertheless, Cummeragunja plays an important but complex role in the cultural identity of the Yorta Yorta people. Image from the Museum Victoria collection http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/794983/photograph- by-a-j-campbell-echuca-victoria-1893 Research the History of Cummeragunja • This is a good place to start: http://www.yynac.com.au/history.php • Nancy, Merle and Valda describe their connection to Cummeragunja and to the Sapphires: https://open.abc.net.au/explore/20826 • Why were the Yorta Yorta people moved to Cummeragunja? • What are the details of the Cummeragunja Walkoff? Why is this considered such an important event in Aboriginal history in the post-colonisation period? 4 Freedom Ride Ever since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been engaged in a struggle to assert their rights to the land that they inhabited for generations prior to European settlement. In the 1960s Indigenous Australians connected with the African American civil rights movement in the United States and staged a freedom ride inspired by the Freedom Riders who travelled through US southern states to highlight ongoing issues of segregation and racist violence. • Find out more about the Australian Freedom Ride. You might like to begin here: http://indigenousrights.net.au/civil_rights/freedom_ride,_1965 • What were the significant events in the United States that inspired it? • Why did Indigenous Australians identify so deeply with the African American people, even though they have such a different history and experience? Which experiences did/do they share? Civil Rights • Find out more about Martin Luther King and his deep significance to the civil rights movement. The horror with which the news of his murder was met is portrayed with great impact in The Sapphires. • Why is the 1967 referendum such a significant moment in the long and continuing process of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? This is a useful place to begin: http://www.reconciliation.qut.edu.au/issues/referendum.jsp • The 1967 referendum did not give Aboriginal people the right to vote. However, this history of the Indigenous vote gives some useful contextual information: http://www.aec.gov.au/indigenous/history.htm The Stolen Generations The women who were the real-life Sapphires have described the experience of having children removed from their family: Our aunties - our mother's sisters - were taken away from Cummeragunja. Our grandmother would follow them around. There was a kind man who worked at the Aboriginal Protection Board who would let Nanny know where Aunty Margaret or Aunty May were, and she'd travel to see them. When they were taken away, it nearly killed her. It broke her heart. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2012/09/the- sapphires-where-are-they-now/ • Find out more about the Stolen Generations by exploring ACMI Generator http://generator.acmi.net.au/, Australian Screen http://aso.gov.au/, Creative Spirits http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/a-guide-to-australias-stolen- generations and the National Sorry Day Committee http://www.nsdc.org.au/stolen- generations/history-of-the-stolen-generations/the-history-of-the-stolen-generations 5 An important narrative element of The Sapphires is the removal of the fair-skinned Kay and the impact this has on her connection to her family and its shared history. • Find out more about the personal experiences of people who were removed from their family by: o Listening to Mick Edwards’ story From the Beginning to the Resistances http://generator.acmi.net.au/education-themes/snapshots-australian- history/stolen-generation/beginning-resistances o Watching the clips from Darlene Johnson’s documentary Stolen Generations: http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/stolen-generations/ Family and the Formation of Identity For a number of reasons, family and heritage are particularly vital to the identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. • Why do you think this is the case? • What is the effect of having both family and cultural history taken away? • Many Aboriginal Australians can no longer speak the language of their country. How does the loss of language affect a group’s sense of identity and belonging? Australian and International History The main action of The Sapphires narrative is set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. • Find out more about this war and Australia’s involvement: https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam/ The Vietnam War has left a terrible legacy with many returned soldiers suffering from ongoing trauma. • Watch The Sleeping Dragon http://generator.acmi.net.au/education-themes/conflict- australians-war/vietnam-war/sleeping-dragon In this digital story, Graham Atkinson describes how the trauma of the Vietnam War was exacerbated by the negative reception given to Vietnam veterans on their return. Attitudes have changed and it is interesting to speculate if these changing attitudes might have prompted Laurel Robinson to talk more confidently about her own brief but intense experience in Vietnam and Tony’s increased interest in
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