From Sand to Celluloid – Two Bob Mermaid
Clip 1: ‘Swimmin’ … that’s for white fellas’
2 min 37 sec
Taken from the short film From Sand to Celluloid – Two Bob Mermaid (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
Aboriginal kids cling to the fence that keeps them out of the pool area. In the pool, Koorin (Carrie Prosser) races a young girl (Megan Drury). They talk about being like Dawn Fraser and Esther Williams. Koorin’s friend convinces her to sign up for the annual competition and introduces her to Eleanor (Celia Keane), who calls the Aboriginal kids outside the fence ‘a bunch of monkeys’. Koorin talks to her mother (Tess Leahy) about being a swimmer like her heroes. Her mother tells her that swimming is for white fellas.
Curator’s notes
Koorin is a character who for the moment is tempted by white privilege, and exploits her ability to pass as a white person. The class divide and the restriction of dreams imposed upon Koorin as a consequence of racism, is echoed in this clip.
Romaine Moreton, curator
