The Djarn Djarns
Clip 2: Shake a leg
3 min 0 sec
Taken from the short film The Djarn Djarns (2005)
Original title classification PG – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
Flashback, Franky and his father are sitting on the river bank, fishing lines cast into the river. Returning to the present, the Djarn Djarns dancers are walking towards the stage with the focused gaze of seasoned professionals.
Curator’s notes
A wonderful use of music to capture the focus of the young dance group, paralleling the troupe’s high energy with a contact sport, which perhaps can be attributed to the fact that the director in his own words ‘grew up on team sports’.
This characteristic is the most wonderful aspect of The Djarn Djarns, where we see enthusiasm and pride popularly associated with sports expressed by the young character’s love of culture and dance. Given this, The Djarn Djarns is very much a comment on the state of the arts and the potential role it plays in the lives of Indigenous young people who are wanting to strengthen cultural identity.
Romaine Moreton, curator
