Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows three Indigenous participants in the 2005 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race describing their involvement. It begins with a map of the route – between Alice Springs and Finke – as filmmaker Warwick Thornton describes the route in voice-over. It then shows Bernard Singer, who says racing desert buggies has become like an addiction, and Jamie Nyaningu, who wants to act as a role model for Indigenous children. The clip has subtitles and includes footage of the Race and of Thornton fixing his dirt bike for the Race.

Educational value points

• The clip features three Indigenous competitors in the Finke Desert Race describing their motivations for being involved. Bernard Singer, who says racing is addictive, took it up when his football career ended. Jamie Nyaningu hopes that his involvement will encourage Indigenous youth to compete in rather than just watch the Race and Warwick Thornton is a motorbike rider who had always wanted to compete in what is clearly a gruelling and thrilling experience.

• The 460-km two-day Race, held on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, is an off-road car, motorcycle and buggy race through desert country from south of Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) community and back again. Up to 10,000 spectators camp along the track as more than 300 motorcycles and 90 cars compete at speeds of up to 200 km per h over rough terrain marked by corrugations, dips and rises, collectively known as 'whoops’.

• Top racers take about 4 h to complete the Finke Desert Race, which has been called the richest and most difficult off-road Race in the southern hemisphere and which now awards two prizes annually, one for bikes and one for cars and buggies, each of $10,000. Local businesses have ownership of the event, which generates publicity for them and income for the region.

• Warwick Thornton (Kaytetye), featured in the clip, is an Indigenous filmmaker. He is the director and writer of Green Bush, winner of Best Short Film in the Panorama section of the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Thornton’s mother was one of the founders of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) and as a young man Thornton worked on a number of the organisation’s radio and film productions.

• Black and Dusty is part of a documentary television series called Nganampa Anwernekenhe produced by CAAMA since 1987. Nganampa Anwernekenhe means 'ours’ in the Pitjanjatjara and Arrernte languages, and the series aims to contribute to the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures. It gives a voice to Indigenous people by enabling subjects to tell their stories from an Indigenous perspective.

Map of Australia is shown with the Finke track outlined.

Narrator The Finke Desert Race is a race from Alice Springs to the community of Finke. It goes through Arrernte country and then it goes through Luritja country. 230km, just a nice lazy ride and then you’ve got to sleep the night and then you’ve got to turn around and do it all again. Back through Luritja country, into Arrernte country to Alice Springs.

Bernard Singer is interviewed. We see and hear Bernard’s vehicle racing down the track through the desert landscape. Jaime Nyaningu is with his crew in the garage preparing to go out and race. We see his vehicle out on the racing on the track also.

Bernard Singer I am Bernard Singer. I am from the Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara Lands. That’s in South Australia far north west. I am the Land Council chairperson for that area and my footy career is over anyway. So I’ve taken up another sport, I am into racing. When you first start racing you feel nervous. That’s how I started off in the first race. But then you get hooked on it, you get addicted hey. Like people get addicted to grog. It’s the same thing with cars hey. I always really wanted to do it. Gee, like I’ve got a few people carried away with it. Like Jamie Nyaningu, he’s into it. He’s probably in his forties. He’s trying to encourage young people. Show them that he can do it too. Young fellas should really come in and start doing it.

Jamie Nyaningu We can’t be sitting down and watching, we have to be doing something. Sitting down watching is a waste of time. Young children will be looking at us riding motor bikes and motor cars. Maybe later they will come in. When they grow up. When they get older.

Warwick Thornton is interviewed. His bike is in the background. There is a timelapse shot of two men working on a bike. Warwick starts up the bike.

Warwick Thornton G’day. My name’s Warwick Thornton. I’m Alice Springs born and bred. Um, my family are Kaytej from a place called Barra Creek. I’ve been riding bikes all my life and have never ridden the Finke. I’ve always wanted to, um, just never have gotten around to it. My kind of work, the work that I do, generally I’m away a lot from, from you know, out of Alice Springs so um, sort of the time it takes, the preparation time you need to actually ride it, the things that you need, sort of you know there’s a lot of work involved actually before the race and I’m generally always working when the race is on.