From Sand to Celluloid – Black Man Down
Clip 2: Life and death battle
2 min 54 sec
Taken from the short film From Sand to Celluloid – Black Man Down (1996)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
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
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.
Romaine Moreton, curator
