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Clip description
This powerful sequence shows the violent clashes between the government and developers planning Sydney’s large-scale re-development and those that opposed it – the unionists, residents, conservationists and students.
Curator’s notes
This sequence is at the heart of the film. It outlines the cost to Sydney if the planned development were to go ahead. Importantly, it documents how extensively the BLF had re-defined its role as a union. It now saw its role defending not only workers’ rights but the rights of the larger community. In this sequence the BLF, residents threatened with losing their homes, and many others, fight the government and the developers and put their lives on the line to do it.
Again the filmmaker uses animation, historical footage and interviews to tell the story. The interview with resident Mick Fowler is done on location and gives a very personal insight into the impact of the evictions and demolitions on individual lives. However this interview has very bad picture quality. The crew had to shoot the interview on half-inch video – a poor quality but accessible medium – as a result of the budget being so tight. But this is a good example of the content being more important than the picture quality when documenting a personal story as the action unfolds.
