SONGLINES ON SCREEN 1 Damari & Guyala • EDUCATION NOTES © ATOM 2016 A STUDYA STUDY GUIDE GUIDE BY MATHEW BY ATOM CLAUSEN http://www.metromagazine.com.au ISBN:ISBN: 978-1-74295-XXX-X978-1-74295-984-9 http://theeducationshop.com.au 1 Classroom Context DAMARI & GUYALA The activities included in this resource, provide opportunities for students to explore Indigenous Australian cultures, language and stories. The Australian Curriculum has been used as a Introduction guide for the planning of these activities. You should adapt the activities to suit the student age These teachers’ notes have and stage of your class and the curriculum foci and been designed to assist you with outcomes used in your school. classroom preparation in relation Some websites are suggested throughout this resource. It is recommended that you first visit the to the viewing of the short film sites and assess the suitability of the content for Damari & Guyala. This film is one your particular school environment before setting of eight films that have been made the activities based on these. to record, celebrate and share precious historic and cultural information from Indigenous groups in remote Western, CONTENT HYPERLINKS: Northern and Central Australia. We hope that this resource will assist your students to further enjoy and enhance their viewing. The following link provides you with an overview of the other films in theSonglines on Screen series: NITV - Songlines on Screen http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/songlines-on-screen/ © ATOM 2016 © ATOM article/2016/05/25/learn-indigenous-australian- creation-stories-songlines-screen-multimedia- features?cx_navSource=related-side-cx#cxrecs_s 2 Curriculum Links This film provides the classroom teacher with many op- portunities for learning activities that link to the following Australian Curriculum Content Descriptions: English Years 7-8 Analyse how point of view is generated in visual texts by means of choices, for example gaze, angle and social distance (ACELA1764) Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts(ACELT1621) Media Arts Years 7-8 Plan, structure and design media artworks that engage Pre-Viewing Activities audiences (ACAMAM069) Analyse how technical and symbolic elements are used in media artworks to create representations influ- Film Description enced by story, genre, values and points of view of 1 and Synopsis particular audiences (ACAMAR071) Identify specific features and purposes of media art- Before the white man arrived, two brothers, Damari and works from contemporary and past times to explore Guyala, made their way down the East Coast of Australia. viewpoints and enrich their media arts making, They came seeking shelter and food after a long journey starting with Australian media artworks including of from the North and made a stopover near the land of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media artworks Mandingalbay Yidinji tribe of the Cairns area. (ACAMAR072) This story of betrayal, lies and loyalty is told in the lan- English Yrs 9-10 guage of Mandingalbay Yindinji elder David Mundraby. Explore and reflect on personal understanding of the Activity: world and significant human experience gained from What do you know about songlines? interpreting various representations of life matters in texts (ACELT1635) View the following clips and read the information that can Investigate and experiment with the use and effect of ex- be found in the links below. Work with a partner or in a tended metaphor, metonymy, allegory, icons, myths small group and answer the questions below. and symbolism in texts, for example poetry, short films, graphic novels, and plays on similar themes Youtube -What are Songlines? (ACELT1637) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVOG-RKTFIo National Film and Sound Archive - Songlines Media Arts Years 9-10 http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1566/ Wikipedia - Songlines Plan and design media artworks for a range of pur- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songline poses that challenge the expectations of spe- ABC Starmaps and Science cific audiences by particular use of production http://www.abc.net.au/science/arti- processes(ACAMAM076) cles/2014/07/11/4043550.htm Evaluate how technical and symbolic elements are manipulated in media artworks to create and chal- 1. What are songlines and where can they be found? lenge representations framed by media conventions, 2. How are songlines created and how are they main- social beliefs and values for a range of audiences tained over time? (ACAMAR078) 3. What are some of the purposes of songlines? Analyse a range of media artworks from contempo- 4. Compare the information you have found about rary and past times to explore differing viewpoints songlines in the links to the information in the descrip- and enrich their media arts making, starting with tion and synopsis for the film Damari & Guyala. What © ATOM 2016 © ATOM Australian media artworks, including media artworks connections can you make? of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and international media artworks (ACAMAR079) 3 2 Yarrabah 3 Why Make This Film? Yarrabah was established on the traditional lands of the Gunggandji people at Mission Bay on the Cape Grafton Activity: Directorial Intentions Peninsula, just south of Cairns.It is about 60 kilometres from Cairns CBD, however, it is only approx. 12 kilometres if meas- Read the following statements by the directors and ured in a straight line. It takes about 45 minutes to travel by car producer of Damari & Guyala. After you have read from the Cairns CBD to the Yarrabah Community. Yarrabah has these statements, work with a partner to complete the a population of between 3500-4000 due to the transient nature following: of many. They are governed by a Shire Council and have multiple services in the community. One of the spirits from this Songline, 1. What do you think might be the directors’ intentions or Guyula, is also the name of the Yarrabah Seahawks Rugby reasons for making this film? League side, and they call on his name when they are down. 2. Why might the making of this film be important for them? Before contact with the British, there were 3 main languages 3. What might be the aspects of a producer’s role in the being spoken in the Yarrabah/Cairns area: Yidinyi by the making of Damari & Guyala? Yidinyji people; Gunggay by the Gungganyji people and Ngajan 4. What do you think might have been some of the chal- by the Dyirbal people. These tribes spoke dialects of a single lenges of making this film? language and were able to understand each other’s dialect. Director - Benjamin Southwell David Mundraby, the Songman who was consulted with in the making of Damari and Guyala, is an Elder of the Yidinji Ben grew up in North Queensland and has a cultural Mandingalbay and the keeper of the Law and Song. David is background from Darnley Island in the Torres Straits. He married and has four daughters and one son and many grand- completed a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Communications children. He has lived with his family in Yarrabah all his life and and Indigenous Studies, during which time he made his is the only surviving recognised speaker and teacher of culture first short film, THE CONTEST. in Yarrabah at this point in time. Ben also has a Certificate III in Broadcast Media and a David has spent his entire life dedicated to teaching the younger Certificate IV in Screen and Media. generation about culture and is employed by Qld Education at the local school to deliver cultural lessons to staff and students. Along with 14 other indigenous filmmakers in 2009, he successfully assisted in producing 12 productions in 24 Activity: What is the history of Yarrabah? weeks for broadcast on NITV. During this time, Ben also wrote & directed a short film, DEAD CREEK. An indig- Work in pairs and use the following link to learn more about the enous supernatural thriller screening at the Vancouver history of Yarrabah and its communities. International Film Festival 2010 and the Imaginative Film Queensland Government - Community Histories - Yarrabah Festival 2011 in Toronto. In late 2009 Ben travelled to https://www.qld.gov.au/atsi/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/ Mornington Island and began working for the communi- community-histories-yarrabah/ ties culture and arts company as a Media & Archive coor- dinator. Apart from gaining practical experience in video 1. Where is Yarrabah located and what is the population of production, cultural event work and project management this community? Ben took the time to connect with the people and learn 2. What is the history of this community? about Mornington Island dance,history, culture, lore and 3. What are some of the negative and positive aspects of life in a remote aboriginal community. White settlement on this community over time? Now working as part of a creative partnership with Writer/ Producer Ian Ludwick, Ben is committed to the process of honing his artistic vision and technical skills to consist- ently create high quality, fresh, entertaining, socially aware work. He wants to tell drama and documentary stories that celebrate traditional culture, explore real contempo- rary life and discuss the darker issues inside the indig- enous consciousness. ‘My vision is to empower indigenous people to educate and entertain’. © ATOM 2016 © ATOM 4 Director - Marley Sharp Producer - Ian Ludwick Marley Sharp is an Australian Actor/Musician/Cultural Consultant Identifying as a Bulgun Warra male on his grand- working in Community Cultural Development in and around his father’s side from Cape York Peninsula, Ian has community. He is from the Gugu Yalanji and Muluridji tribes of been producing short films and documentaries Tropical Far North Queensland. Marley has worked in Radio since 2009. ‘Jhindu’ in 2009 was his first produced Presenting with Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome Western film, a supernatural drama involving Indigenous Australia.