TAKEOVER

90 minutes Colour 1980
Film-makers: David and Judith MacDougall

Some ethnographic films act as a record, others as a political tool. A few act as both. In March 1978 David and Judith MacDougall were in the Aurukun Aboriginal Reserve in Queensland, Australia to film other aspects of Aboriginal life, when word came that the Queensland State government would take over the Aurukun Reserve and Mornington Island, taking administrative control from the United Church of Queensland. The local people were not consulted about this matter: the only way they learned about it was through the radio after the decision had apparently been made.

The people of Aurukun see the reason behind the takeover not as the stated one of church incompetence, but as the Queensland government's desire to mine rich bauxite deposits on the Reserve. They also know from the previous experience of other Aboriginal groups, that they may be removed from their land and scattered elsewhere. They decide to fight and the MacDougalls become part of this fight by filming the sequence of events as they happen. The Queensland authorities are not pleased with the filming and at one point actually refuse to let the MacDougalls film a meeting. But local people record the meeting on tape and we hear the words while looking in the windows just like many members of the community.

Tensions mount. The national media begin to arrive. The Queensland State Government and the Federal Government disagree. More and more people come to Aurukun. The MacDougalls continue to film.

Takeover captures the feeling of isolation and the local people's difficulty in deciding who from the outside is trustworthy. The shooting takes place almost entirely at Aurukun and contact with the outside is largely shown through either newspaper headlines or the radio. The suspense of the conflict is riveting, claiming the viewer's attention for the full ninety minutes. The knowledge that the viewer is watching real, and not fictionalized, events adds power to the film. It would be unforgiveable to reveal the outcome of the conflict. That timing should be left in the hands of the MacDougalls.

The commentary is by Francis Yunkaporta, an important Aboriginal political leader at Aurukun. Catalogue number (16mm): 9RA142 £27.

R.M. Berndt, 1982. Aboriginal Sites, Rights and Resource Development. University of Western Australia Press, Perth.

C.D. Rowley, 1971. The Remote Aborigines. Australian National University Press, Canberra.

C.M. Tatz, 1979. Race Politics in Australia. University of New England Publishing Unit, Armidale, N.S.W.