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From Sand to Celluloid – Black Man Down (1996)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
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Life and death battle

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Waxy (David Hudson) stands in the foreground. In the background by a fire, an Aboriginal warrior (Jeffrey Locke) in traditional dress throws Waxy a snake which becomes a belt when Waxy catches it. Back in the present Waxy fixes the same belt to the roof of the cell as he recites his hardship. The spirit woman tells him that his people need him. Waxy sits and talks to the spirit woman who identifies herself as the spirit of the great Kangaroo Dreaming named Mulweena (Linda Johnson). We hear a screech it is the death bird calling for Waxy.

Curator’s notes

The battle between death and life is in essence the battle of the spirit, between looking towards the spiritual identity and ancestral realm, or succumbing to the frustration of an Aboriginal man living in a white society. A society where his spiritual identity is suppressed, making him susceptible to societal and political forces.