Last night I went to see the second screening of UsMob, a series of short films about four kids living in a town camp in Alice, made by local film-maker David Vadiveloo. M, A & I tried seeing these films when they were first screened the weekend before last but they were packed out. We didn't have hope of getting in. This time round, there was a smaller crowd and a couple of busloads of kids from the town camps.
There are approximately 1500 people living in 18 town camps on special purpose leases in Alice. It's a bit difficult to explain what a town camp is. In some senses, they're 'fringe' camps, whose use dates back to when Aboriginal people weren't allowed within a 6 km radius of the town (or was is it a 8 or 9 km radius? I can't quite remember.) Traditional people (the Arrernte) set up camp nevertheless on what was their land. These camps have evolved over time, and people from family groups within and outside town live there for a variety of reasons. I'm a bit wary of calling the camps 'ghettoes' or 'shanty towns', because of the negative connotations of these terms (and we are after all talking about what is 'home' to a lot of people), but the infrastructure and services in these camps is pretty poor. Opinions on the town camps vary widely and are often quite controversial. Some, for example, want the camps razed to the grounds as they were in Moree (tho the alternative here of moving people into public housing brings another set of issues with it, including further 'ghetto' potential). There is continuing friction at local and territory government levels about the provision of essential services to the town camps, and no doubt multiple agendas behind this debate (e.g. we wont do this properly or claim any responsibility in this regard, or it might look as tho we're encouraging the town campers to stay).
UsMob gives an appealing insight into the everyday lives of the families living on the town camps. The actors were mainly locals, as far as I could tell (amused to see one of the cycling tjilpis playing the school bus driver). I'm pleased to say that I thought some of the kids put in the best performances. Some of these films are more lighthearted than others; there are several dealing with more serious issues like love & skin groups, land rights and the wealth gap in Alice. At times I felt the signposting of more serious themes was a little heavyhanded, but the films are intended for a young rather than adult audience, after all. There are seven short films with three 'interactive' endings for each; you can workshop your preferences for these endings via the UsMob website. I presume these films will get a guernsey at a few film festivals but I think the main audience is meant to be schoolies via the net. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good initiative, especially in destigmatising the lives of these kids and creating rapport with the rest of the community (particularly kids; there's much cheekiness and rawness that will appeal to other kids). Also interesting to see that town camper kids spend much time outside playing with other kids and riding bikes great distances (like we used to). Hope this is true; if it is, it's much more healthy (if only in that regard in that regard) than the lifestyle of many inner-city 'little emperors and empresses.' So, yes, visit the website and see what you think -- a different film from the series is to be screened there every week.
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