Eco-Fourth Cinema: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Crises
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Eco-Fourth Cinema: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Crises Aline Freire de Carvalho Frey A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Communication and Arts Abstract This thesis compares a number of films made with or by Indigenous peoples in Australia and Brazil, from the year 2000. At the core of this research project is an investigation into how these films transmit Indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing and relating to the environment, while reaching both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences. The thesis’s main hypothesis is that globalised audiences engage with Indigenous films, because they recurrently touch on universal environmental themes such as land disputes, water preservation and struggles for cultural maintenance. These productions do so while retaining and explicitly negotiating these audio-visual productions’ regional and cultural specificities. The appeal these films have for international viewers is reflected through the rising number of film festivals exhibiting Indigenous themes, many of which advocate for environmental policies and sustainable lifestyles. Indigenous peoples are key players in climate change debates not only due to their traditional knowledges and discourses on sustainability, but because they are survivors of a preceding type of unanticipated eco-territorial displacement, namely colonialism. Consequently, this research argues that the study of films made by or with Indigenous peoples can provide alternative perspectives to contemporary environmental debates, relating Indigenous rights and sovereignty with successful management of natural resources. Due to their reliance and connection with natural resources, Indigenous peoples in Australia and Brazil are often the first to feel the impacts of environmental crises such as deforestation and droughts. Consequently, films about Indigenous sustainability display stories of resilience and survival that allow for the renegotiation of global and local meanings of natural resources. In the context of debates on epistemic decolonisation, this research takes on the challenge of studying these films in relation to the broader field of national cinemas and as part of what has been called Fourth Cinema by Māori filmmaker Barry Barclay. The concept of a Fourth Cinema differentiates Indigenous Cinema from the First, Second and Third Cinemas. It argues for the importance of Indigenous self-representation to overcome media stereotypes and to produce images that respect Indigenous core values. Further elaborating and supplementing the idea of Fourth Cinema, this thesis concludes with a discussion on the contributions of ecocinema. This recent genre has as its main characteristic a proactive and interventionist logic, raising public awareness for environmental issues. This thesis proposes the combination of Fourth Cinema with ecocinema leading to an “Eco-Fourth Cinema” as a space for Indigenous audio-visual productions to tackle environmental crises from the standpoint of Indigenous rights. ii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co-authors for any jointly authored works included in the thesis. iii Publications during candidature Peer-reviewed journal articles Frey, Aline. 2018 “The Flows of Xingu: Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Discourses in Brazil.” Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research 24, no.1. Frey, Aline. 2017. “Ativismo coletivo e descolonização midiática: uma análise comparativa das produções audiovisuais indígenas na Austrália e no Brasil.” Revista Tempos e Espaços em Educação 10, no. 21: 41–54. Frey, Aline. 2016. “Resisting Invasions: Indigenous Peoples and Land Rights Battles in Mabo and Terra Vermelha.” Ilha do Desterro 69, no. 2: 151–64. Book chapters Frey, Aline. 2016. “Land Rights Struggles through the Gaze of Indigenous Cinema in Brazil and Australia.” In Beyond the Market: Building Sino–Latin American Cultural Relations, edited by Rosangela Tenorio, Yu-Ting Tang, Yat Ming Loo and Walescka Pino-Ojeda, 83–94. Ningbo, China: University of Nottingham. Frey, Aline. 2014. “Confinement and Violence in the Streets of New Brazilian Cinema.” In Brazil in Twenty-First Century Popular Media: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism on the World Stage, edited by Naomi Pueo, Wood, 55–71. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books. Conferences papers and presentations Frey, Aline. “The International Indigenous Film Festival Cine Kurumin.” Paper presented at The Environment is everything: A Meeting of Latin American Environmental Film Festival Organisers, Curators and Academics. Seminar series organised by SESC (Social Service of Commerce), São Paulo, Brazil, 25–26 August 2017. Frey, Aline. “Decolonizing Documentaries: Collective Activism and Indigenous Filmmaking in Australia and Brazil.” Paper presented at Decolonising Documentary Filmmaking: The Individual and the Collective under Neoliberalism. Seminar Series organised by New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies (NZCLAS), James Henare Research Centre, Auckland University, New Zealand, 5 October 2016. Frey, Aline. “Collective Activism: Everyday Life and Sustainability in the Audio-visual Production of Video in the Villages.” Paper presented at the 12th Biennial AILASA Conference (Association of Iberian & Latin American Studies of Australasia), Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, 3–5 July 2016. Frey, Aline. “Tekoha: A Place to Fulfil a Way of Life.” Paper presented as part of Seminar Left Untranslated: Indigenous Sovereignty over Knowledge Exchange in Cultural Translation, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 27 April 2016. iv Frey, Aline. “Cinematic Narratives of Resistance: Indigenous Epistemologies and Sustainability in Ten Canoes and Xingu.” Paper presented at the 19th Annual Work in Progress Conference (WiP), University of Queensland, Australia, 28–30 September 2015. Frey, Aline. “Indigenous Cinemas and Water Preservation in Australia and Brazil.” Paper presented at South–South Dialogues: Situated Perspectives in Decolonial Epistemologies, University of Queensland, Australia, 5–6 November 2015. Frey. Aline. “Land Disputes through the Gaze of Indigenous Cinema in Brazil and Australia.” Paper presented at On the Road to Silk and Gold, the 1st Sino-Latin American Symposium on Culture, Arts & Design, Society and Spatial Studies, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, 13–14 March 2015. Frey, Aline. “Decolonizing Cinema: An Analysis of Indigenous Filmmaking in Latin America and Australasia.” Paper presented at the 4th International Congress on Cultural Studies: Colonialisms, Post-Colonialisms and Lusophonies, University of Aveiro, Portugal, 27–30 April 2014. Publications included in this thesis Frey, Aline. 2016. “Land Rights Struggles through the Gaze of Indigenous Cinema in Brazil and Australia.” In Beyond the Market: Building Sino–Latin American Cultural Relations, edited by Rosangela Tenorio, Yu-Ting Tang, Yat Ming Loo and Walescka Pino-Ojeda, pp. 83–94. Ningbo, China: University of Nottingham. Incorporated as part of chapter one. Frey, Aline. 2016. “Resisting Invasions: Indigenous Peoples and Land Rights Battles in Mabo and Terra Vermelha.” Ilha do Desterro 69, no. 2: 151–64. Incorporated as part of chapter one. Frey, Aline. 2018 “The Flows of Xingu: Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Discourses in Brazil.” Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research 24, no.1. Incorporated as part of chapter two. Frey, Aline. 2017. “Ativismo coletivo e descolonização midiática: uma análise comparativa das produções audiovisuais indígenas na Austrália e no Brasil.” Revista Tempos e Espaços em Educação 10, No. 21: 41–54. Incorporated as part of chapter three. v Manuscripts included in this thesis No manuscripts included. Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. Research involving human or animal subjects No animal or human participants were involved in this research.