AFTRS celebrates NAIDOC Week with students and the community, honouring the rich history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year marks 50 years of NAIDOC Week, celebrating First Nations voices and culture. The theme, ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy,’ honours past achievements and empowers young leaders to carry forward community vision and legacy.
Australian screen culture has been shaped by fundamental contributions from AFTRS alumni, including Ivan Sen, Rachel Perkins, Warwick Thornton and Catriona McKenzie, who are part of a strong community of screen practitioners bringing knowledge and experiences to our shared screen culture.
This story is part of a series of three articles featuring the works of 2024 AFTRS graduates Dylan Nicholls and Nazareth Alfred, along with current student Charles Perkins, through the lens of ‘strength, vision, and legacy’ as we look to the future of the next generation.
The Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production short documentary Revolver, directed by Charles Perkins, embodies strength, vision, and legacy. Charles noted how legacy is present both in the narrative being told and in the filmmaking process.
Revolver tells the story of Bobby McLeod, who, frustrated by government mistreatment of First Nations people, stormed the department armed with a revolver. Holding four men hostage, the crisis could have ended in tragedy — if not for Charlie Perkins.
“We’re talking about a real intergenerational story, with me having the privilege to tell a small part of the story of my grandfather. But also, in the context of the narrative, [Charlie Perkins] seeing the plight of the younger generation in Bobby McLeod, and have connection with the community to recognise what Bobby was going through, and to have respect as an older member of the community to deal with that situation, and close that generation gap to bring people together,” said Charles about Revolver.
“I think all Aboriginal people have a debt to each other to protect each other and band together,” said Charles.
“It’s about coming together and how coming together and relying on others and community brings us strength. We can’t operate on our own.”
“[1974] was a time of real change, a lot of protest. The vision was a better future, and that’s something that Charlie was trying to achieve, and Bobby was trying to achieve, but just in a very different way. They were two men that had the same mission but different ways to approach it,” said Charles.
When considering the next First Nations generation, Charles noted that “the largest part of media that’s featured Aboriginal and First Nations people have often portrayed stories of real tragedy. We had films that explored the exoticism of Aboriginal life, and even if it portrayed it to be beautiful, a lot of directors would come in and be tourists to the Aboriginal world. But what we are starting to see since the 80s, 90s, 2000s and up till now is Aboriginal directors with stories that brought to light the plight of Aboriginal people in Australia.”
Charles reflected on the evolution of Aboriginal storytelling, from protest and tragedy to celebration and cultural pride: “The mission has changed, and the objective has changed. It’s become less about highlighting what the plight is and more about celebrating the best parts of Aboriginal culture and its people.”
“This is when we’ll start to see a different type of Aboriginal storytelling, one that’s not so focused on protest, but more so creating a space for Aboriginal people to exist without the aim of trying to educate,” said Charles.
Outside of AFTRS, Charles is working with Elders across NSW to record their life experience and knowledge through interviews, “(for some of them) this is the first time that they’ve been able to sit down for a few days and tell their entire life story. This generation holds knowledge, and it is reaching a stage where that knowledge will be lost if we don’t sit down and talk to them.”
“It’s such an amazing experience, and it very much informs my practice. I’m going out there, and I’m getting these stories, gaining so much knowledge,” said Charles.
Charles notes opportunities for the emerging First Nation generation: “We are building ourselves off the backs of the filmmakers that came before us. Everybody that came before us and succeeded showed we can do it. What we’re going to start to see is Indigenous filmmaking that is without limits. We as a community will be able to create without boundaries and without expectations. It’s going to be obviously something that we’ve never seen before, but something that is to me very exciting,” said Charles.
Revolver is currently streaming on SBS On Demand, along with fourteen short documentaries produced by Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production students.
Charle’s work embodies this year’s NAIDOC theme of strength, vision and legacy, and positions him among the bright talent to keep an eye out for as ‘the Next Generation’ of First Nations voices and culture.
