Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Message Stick – Macumba: Outside Looking In (2003)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
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Childhood influences

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

John Macumba talks about his childhood experiences and his burgeoning interest in media that came from listening to the radio.

Curator’s notes

by Liz McNiven

The minimal music and skilful incorporation of historical footage provides an effective backdrop to the narration by Macumba, as he tells the story of his childhood. The editing in of more contemporary footage seamlessly continues the story as Macumba tells of being fostered out as a child and his early interest in radio broadcasting. Re-creations, such as the establishing shot of an Adelaide house in 1963 and a hand adjusting a radio tuning dial, unobtrusively illustrate the story without distracting from Macumba’s words on the soundtrack.