Torres Strait slowly vanishing from the screen
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 10:41
A community project and film to rescue one of Torres Strait’s island’s heritage dances is in danger of sinking, like the island itself, through lack of funds.Film director Frances Calvert is battling Australian television apathy to produce a film tracing the revival of a famous traditional dance. But funds for filming the project, titled Dancing on Water, are sadly lacking.
For the past three years Islanders have been documenting, consulting and committing to the project, as evidenced by the long lists of signatures and video endorsements of the project and film that deal with cultural heritage, public health issues and land inundation due to climate change.
The dance troupe will then take the performance to mainland Australia and overseas.
The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference brought little consolation to Torres Strait. If Saibai, Boigu, Iama, Poruma, Warraber and others finally become uninhabitable, the myths, legends and distinct languages will disappear.
The unique project has won the admiration of many supporters, but not, sadly Australian television. The Queensland Art Gallery, for one, hopes to include the film and dance in its planned Torres Strait art exhibition in 2011.
“Two years of applying for funding from Australian television has proven bitterly disappointing”, said Frances Calvert. “Either the proposal was deemed too serious, too ‘indigenous’, or climate change no longer interesting as television documentary. Dance and ‘folklore’, as they call it, are out, and fun and playfulness are in”.
“I was rejected at every turn by the ABC, then by SBS and even NITV. ABC’s Message Stick said it was simply not appropriate to commission two Torres Strait series for 2010. And without television backing there is no state funding.”
Undaunted, Ms Calvert is looking at raising some of the funds through philanthropic sources, as the film has been declared ‘worthy’ by the Documentary Australia Foundation and is eligible for tax-deductible donations.
The film will follow a group of youths who, having asked to learn an intricate, strenuous dance, agree to get fit with exercise and better diet.
At the suggestion of several army reservists, the group has asked Charlie Company for a 30-day fitness training camp. The Minister of Defence has warmly sanctioned the camp, open to all the youths learning the dance. Instead of learning usual army procedures by day, a traditional skills camp was suggested to complement the daily dance rehearsals: canoe and costume making, carving and more.
The project and film highlight broader issues of public health. Fitness training must be fuelled by a healthy diet, a major problem on an island where the goods in the store cost up to three times the price in Cairns. No wonder that diabetes, obesity and heart disease are rife.
“Inactivity is a serious problem. When I was on one island in September, 2009, there was no TV, radio, public library or Indigenous Knowledge Centre, no fully functioning café and the gym was closed. Only the Torres News arrived, thank goodness!” says Ms Calvert.
Ms Calvert explained: “The revival of a dance can be achieved with good will and fairly minimal funding, but filming youths over 30 days as they overcome obstacles on the road to becoming excellent dancers is a far more expensive undertaking altogether.”
“I hope to interest European television in funding, in the way they so generously funded my past Torres Strait films. But the first thing they always ask is: “Where is the Australian backing?”
“Having postponed once, I don’t want the same thing to happen again. We would really like to film August to September of 2010,” says Frances Calvert.
The technical crew and the Army are in place. All that remains is to fund the film.
“I really want Australia to stand behind Dancing on Water.”
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