Together, Alone: Indigenous Film Now

This series—presented in conjunction with the special exhibition Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia—will highlight the contribution that Indigenous filmmakers have made and how they are reshaping cinematic representations.

While Indigenous peoples from Australia have been portrayed in film since the beginning of the medium, it is only in the last two decades that Indigenous directors have taken control of the camera to tell their own stories in their own ways. In addition, non-Indigenous directors have had to re-examine how they tell Indigenous stories to ensure that they become true collaborations of meaningful exchange. Whether working independently or collaboratively, Indigenous peoples are taking ownership of their self-representation in documentary, musical, social realism, and avant-garde cinema.

Join us for weekly Sunday matinee screenings during the run of the series.

About today’s film:

The Tracker (2002)
90 min., color; Australia, English

The year is 1922. The Tracker is pursuing the Fugitive, an Indigenous man suspected of murdering a white woman, and leads three mounted policemen—the Fanatic, the Follower, and the Veteran—in a journey across the outback. As they move deeper into the bush and farther away from civilization, the toxic forces of paranoia and violence begin to escalate, prompting questions of what is black, what is white, and who is leading whom. The journey becomes an acrimonious and murderous trek that shifts power from one man to another as they are challenged both by the Indigenous people they come across and by each other.

Credits
Writer/Director/Producer: Rolf de Heer
Producer: Julie Ryan
Executive Producers: Bridget Ikin, Domenico Procacci, Bryce Menzies
Associate Producer: Nils Erik Nielsen
Director of Photography: Ian Jones
Paintings: Peter Coad
Casting: Audine Leith
Art Direction and Costume Design: Beverley Freeman
Horse Master: Bill Willoughby
Sound Design: James Currie
Film and Sound Editor: Tania Nehme
Songs and music composed by Graham Tardif
Songs sung by Archie Roach

The screening will be held in Menschel Hall, Lower Level.

Free admission

Cosponsored by the Harvard University Native American Program and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Support for this program is provided by the Richard L. Menschel Endowment Fund.

Lead support for Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia and related research has been provided by the Harvard Committee on Australian Studies. The exhibition is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Consulate-General, New York.