FILMS ::: TALKING BROKEN
description :: credits :: press :: festivals
A portrait of the Torres Strait Islanders
1990, Germany/UK, 76 mins, 16mm & video/DVD
English & Kala lagaw ya with English subtitles; German subtitles
'Broken' is the creole spoken by the Torres Strait Islanders in far north Australia. Although they appear to keep up with 'the system', the hidden language of the authorities will always remain a mystery. With humour and intelligence, various Islanders talk openly about subjects as wide-ranging as independence, culture, tourism, adoption, sex and sorcery. Yet it becomes clear that not all Islanders are aware of their vulnerability in the face of outside forces.
Produced in association with Channel Four Television
Made with financial assistance from Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, Berliner Filmförderung, Evangelisches Missionswerk Hamburg, Stiftung Umverteilen Berlin/Projektgruppe Pazifik e.V.
TELEVISION SCREENINGS
Channel Four Television, 1991
ABC Television Australia, 1991 & 1992
ARTE/ORB/SWF Germany 1994
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CREDITS
Directed by
Frances Calvert
Produced by
Lindsey Merrison & Frances Calvert
featuring
the Torres Strait Islanders
Camera
Peter van den Reek
Sound
Pat Fiske
Editor
Stewart Young
Music
Original music of the Torres Strait Islanders
Karl-Heinz Stockhausen
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PRESS
'...a fine work...The people in the film are extraordinarily articulate and intelligent.'
Malcolm Arth, Margaret Mead Film Festival
'...an outstanding film which rises above being only anthropological and becomes a comment not only on the lives of the Islanders but on what civilisation means.'
Ken Wlaschin, AFI Los Angeles Film Festival
'...such films...enlarge the world for the viewer and overturn any misconceptions'
Declan Hassett, The Cork Examiner, Ireland
'How to find a taste of paradise...'
John Tidmarsh, 'Outlook', BBC World Service
'This is not, however, a typical 'protest' documentary. Calvert's film is clearly a labour of love, providing an open and startling portrait of the Torres Strait Islanders from various angles....Frances Calvert's portrait of their lifestyle and their beliefs is a rich one (condom ads, a feast of wry observations and the appearance of one Chairman Mau are some).'
Norman Miller Channel Four
'An island people stirs in the face of paternalism'
The Dominion, New Zealand
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FESTIVALS
Augsburg/ Tage des Unabhängigen Films, Germany (prèmiere 1990)
Bilan du film éthnographique, Musée de l'homme, Paris
Festival International de Créteil (Festival de Femmes)
Los Angeles International Film Festival
Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival, Munich, Germany
Filmforum: Ethnologie und Dritte Welt, Freiburg, Germany
Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
Sydney International Film Festival, Australia
Wellington and Auckland Film Festivals, New Zealand
Margaret Mead Film Festival, New York (opening film)
Cork Film Festival, Ireland
Internationales Dokfest Leipzig, Germany
Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy |
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FILMOGRAPHY:
TALKING BROKEN (1990)
writer, director, producer
CRACKS IN THE MASK (1997)
writer, director, producer
CURRENT PRODUCTIONS:
WELCOME MONEY
(writer, director, co-producer)
- a documentary about attitudes to consumerism in the former GDR.
THE TOMBSTONE OPENING
(writer, director, co-producer)
- a documentary that centres on the unique ceremony of farewelling the spirit of the dead in Torres Strait
HADDON'S HEROES
(writer, director, co-producer)
- a whimsical drama documentary about Torres Strait Islanders' active response to Europeans in the era of early film and attempts to rejuvenate their contemporary culture. |
