Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows scenes of the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home in Sydney. Footage of the grounds and inside the Home includes a child being bathed and older residents working. The unseen narrator, one of the inhabitants, introduces members of a drama group, led by teacher Aldo Gennaro, as they take part in a breathing exercise and then in other drama exercises. A black-and-white baby photo is shown when the last member is introduced. Piano music accompanies the clip.

Educational value points

• The unseen narrator of the clip, a resident in the Sunshine Home, is articulate, thoughtful and humorous and introduces the viewer to particular members of the drama group from the perspective of personal experience and with great awareness and sensitivity.

• The film draws attention to the individuality, talents and abilities of those with intellectual disabilities, as well as affirming the ability and desire of those with intellectual disabilities to communicate. At the time the film was made, many intellectually disabled people, including those depicted in the clip, lived in institutions for much of their lives. Their opportunity to share their experiences of life and points of view with those on the 'outside’ was therefore rare.

• Prior to the mid-1980s, institutions such as the one shown in the clip reflected the Australian Government’s policy of separating people with disabilities from the wider community. The International Year of the Disabled in 1981 helped raise awareness of the rights and entitlements of people with intellectual disabilities, and the Intellectually Disabled Persons’ Services Act 1986 started the process of integrating people with disabilities back into the community.

• Changed attitudes and government policies towards people with disabilities are reflected in the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home, which in 2005 announced that all of its 130 clients had been moved out of institutionalised care into 29 group homes in four different regions of Sydney. The Home also operates community access, employment and business services for people with disabilities.

• The Sunshine Home was founded in 1924 by psychologist and educationist Dr Lorna Hodgkinson (1887–1951), whose views on intellectual disability were ahead of her time. She believed that people with an intellectual disability should not be put into hospitals for the mentally ill, and bought a property to house and provide education for six children with intellectual disabilities. By 1958, seven years after her death, there were 60 residents at the Sunshine Home.

• The clip shows residents of the Home working in a sheltered workshop. In the 1950s, such workshops were set up to provide employment for those with disabilities, but they frequently did not offer relevant, satisfying or sufficient work for their employees. The Disability Services Act 1986 resulted in the closure of sheltered workshops, and the Australian Government now funds employment services that aim to provide meaningful work within the community for people with disabilities.

• Chilean theatre director Aldo Gennaro (died 1987), who is shown leading the drama group, was formerly a priest and a dancer. He chose to work with people on the fringes of society, the disadvantaged, the unemployed, prisoners and those with disabilities, encouraging them to develop through the creative arts. He was dismissed from his position because the way he related to the residents was deemed by management to be unacceptable.

• The residents shown participating in the drama workshop were part of the group who developed their talents under Gennaro’s direction and went on to perform Madame Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House in 1979.

• The clip is from the award-winning documentary Stepping Out (1980), made by Chris Noonan (1953–) for Film Australia. Along with Gillian Armstrong and Philip Noyce, Noonan was one of the first graduates of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Stepping Out won the UNESCO Prize in 1980, and led to Noonan being invited to direct the successful miniseries The Cowra Breakout (1985) and Vietnam (1987). His first feature film, Babe (1995), won an Oscar.

• Stepping Out showcases the work of Oscar-winning Australian cinematographer Dean Semler (1943–). Semler moved into feature films from newsreels and documentaries in 1976, and made his mark with Mad Max 2 in 1981, the film that brought him to international notice. He won an Oscar in 1991 for his work on Dances with Wolves (1990) and has been nominated for and won several American Society of Cinematographer awards for such films as Razorback (1984) and most recently Apocalypto (2006).

This clip starts approximately 4 minutes into the documentary.

Footage of the grounds and inside the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home includes a child being bathed, a girl spinning around and older residents working. Piano music accompanies the clip.

Romayne, narrator and Sunshine Home drama group member We all live in a home. We live together. We’re all friends. Most of the people will be here for the rest of their lives.
There’s 40 of us or more in the drama group, including Aldo, who comes from Chile.

Aldo sits cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by members of the drama group.

Aldo Gennaro, drama teacher And we breathe deep, really try to fill the lungs. Here inside you have two little parts. They’re called lungs. And then, when you put air in them they fill like a balloon, completely. And then you put the air outside – very much like a balloon. And to do that you have to put a lot of air inside and then let go very slowly. Alright? Can we start? One, two, three.

Everyone inhales and exhales slowly. The camera moves around the room, settling on different participants. Romayne provides commentary about the people shown, often laughing.

Romayne This is Una. Una’s 38. She came to Sunshine when she was ten and she’s cuddly. This is David. He’s 20, came to Sunshine when he was nine and he gets up to a lot of tricks. This is Steven. He’s 27. He came to Sunshine when he was 14. He’s a bit of a devil. This is Josephine. She’s 24 and she’s been at Sunshine for 19 years. She likes playing her tapes in my room, which I don’t mind, and she acts like a cat. This is Chris. He’s 31. He came to Sunshine when he was two and a half.

A black-and-white baby photo labelled ‘Christopher 1 year old’ is shown.

Romayne He’s nice-looking and he’s beautiful and lovable.