Aboriginal Healing,
Sharing Culture |
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"I must say that I enjoyed reading your paper, and I do believe that my people would benefit more from true life stories of Aboriginals, their attainments and their failures."
Revel Cooper, 'A letter from gaol', Aboriginal Quarterly, 1968 |
Michael Liu (Director & Producer) has a background in Marketing, Advertising and short filmmaking. He has produced and directed projects for Pepsico, Seiko, Australia's Olympic bid, Ted Noffs Foundation, Starlight Foundation, Sydney Opera House, the Biennale of Sydney, and many others. His short films have screened at the Du Film (Cannes), Toronto, Edinburgh, London, Jerusalem, Cork, Tokyo, St Kilda and Tropfest. Michael is now launching his long form film career with this documentary about Revel Cooper that entwines art, Aboriginal culture, social justice and the criminal justice system.
Cathy Coomer, Revel Cooper’s niece, is a talented Noongar artist and an activist fighting for the rights of Indigenous peoples. She spent ten years in Roelands mission in Western Australia before escaping at the age of 13. She met Revel in the late 1970s and later regretted not taking up his offer to help her develop as an artist. She now wants to track down and unite Revel’s relatives. She also fervently wants to showcase the beauty of Revel’s artwork, to illustrate what can be achieved by Indigenous people, even when they are faced with extreme adversity.
Professor Sandy Toussaint is an anthropologist who has worked with Aboriginal people for 30 years, especially in the Kimberley but also in other parts of WA, e.g for the Aboriginal Land Inquiry, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and Aboriginal Education. Sandy has extensive collaborative research, publishing and curatorial experience, including on matters relating to cultural material analysis, cross-disciplinary legal and environmental anthropology, health and social justice issues. She was until recently the Associate Director of the University of Western Australia’s Berndt Museum, where she co-curated the WARMUN THEN AND NOW exhibition and installation.
Noel Macdonald is a talented Sydney-based Director of Photography who has been working in film since the mid-1980s, and has worked closely with Michael Liu on a number of past projects. He has worked as a director or freelance camera operator on a variety of TV shows, sporting and music events, and commercials. He has been involved in various projects in Aboriginal communities across Australia funded by the Department of Education and Training, and was director of filming for NITV coverage of the 2015 Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival in the Northern Territory. Noel also directed a music show ‘Nukan Ya Ruby’ as part of the Festival of Sydney.
Cathy, David, Michael and Sandy live in Perth and Jan in Northam, Western Australia. Noel and Simon live in Sydney, whilst Kate resides in Melbourne. You can contact: Michael at youdodo@dodo.com.au and David at profdavidclark1@gmail.com |
David Clark (Producer), an Emeritus Professor of Psychology, is well-known for empowering people to overcome addiction and mental health problems. He is a writer, educator, storyteller, researcher, recovery advocate, and creator of online communities. He developed the human rights initiative Sharing Culture to help Indigenous peoples heal from trauma and its consequences. In a past career, he was an award-winning neuroscientist who trained with a Nobel Laureate. David is very proud to have been adopted by a Rembarrgna family (Arnhem Land) who are traditional Aboriginal healers.
Jan James is a genealogist, historian, counsellor and writer who over a period of nearly 40 years has assembled an unrivalled collection of Aboriginal records and photographs. Her collection consists of genealogies of 84,000 Western Australian Aboriginal people and 24,000 families, and includes over 8,300 photos of individuals. Jan has written 14 books, including ‘Forever Warriors’, which contains biographical details and in most cases photographs of all Western Australian Aboriginal servicemen in all conflicts. She has been actively involved in helping Aboriginal families in counselling and justice processes for many years. In 2000, Jan was made an Honorary Noongar Elder and received an Aboriginal name, Kabarli, which means “Grandmother”. She was only the second white woman to officially be given this honour, the first being Daisy Bates.
Professor Kate Auty is a lawyer who has worked for Aboriginal people in the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, in private practice, and in early native title work in south east Australia. She worked for the Deaths in Custody Royal Commission in Victoria, Tasmania and WA. Kate developed curriculum with Aboriginal people in respect of cultural landscapes, and with community support established Aboriginal sentencing courts in Victoria and WA. Most recently, she brought western science to the discussion about climate change with Yorta Yorta people. Her doctorate exposed the WA Courts of Native Affairs (1936 - 54) to the light of the day.
Simon Ritchie (Producer) has worked in Television production for 30 years and in Television production management for 15 years. In 2014, he joined Deluxe Branded Content as Production Executive working on a six-part documentary entitled Storm Season, which followed NSW State Emergency Service volunteers as they helped their communities when significant weather events occurred. The series aired on Network Ten in November 2015. He previously spent three years working as Production Supervisor at Shine Australia on shows such as The Voice, Beauty and the Geek, and Aussie Pickers, and three years as Senior Production Manager at Southern Star working on shows such as Gladiators and Big Brother. At Landmark Television, he production managed The Real Seachange for Seven, Five Star Insider for Discovery, and various other shows.
>Ngangkari Healing |