Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy

Australia, 1990

Film
Image via themoviedb.org

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A short film about the relationship between an Aboriginal daughter and her white mother. The daughter, now the sole carer of her dying mother, dreams of far away places, the haunted look in her eyes loaded with a sense of what could have been. Famous Aboriginal singer, Jimmy Little, sings ‘Royal Telephone’, evoking the presence of Christianity and its role in the assimilation of Aboriginal people. The final scene sees the daughter lying in a foetal position next to her mother, crying. Assimilation, then, can be understood as a pain experienced by both the Aboriginal daughter as well as the white mother.

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Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

Credits

Duration

19:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1990

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

tmdb-movie-144668

Language

English

Subject category

Drama

TMDB-Movie

144668

Wikidata

Q121811066

Collected

140 times

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/61980--night-cries-a-rural-tragedy/ |title=Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=19 March 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}