My survival as an Aboriginal

Australia, 1978

After being forced from their tribal grounds, the Murrowarri were dumped onto a tiny reserve on the fringe of a white town. In this film Essie Coffey, black activist and musician, shows the conflicts of living as an Aboriginal under white domination. This film is part of her effort to make her community proud of their black identity while struggling to survive.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Previously on display

22 April 2019

ACMI Viewing Booths

Credits

producer

Alec Morgan

Martha Ansara

producer/director

Essie Coffey

production company

Goodgabah Productions

Duration

00:49:05:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1978

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

017768

Language

English

Audience classification

Mediatheque - all ages (ACMI classified)

Subject categories

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Civil rights

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Ethnic identity

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - New South Wales

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Reserves

Aboriginal Australia → Race discrimination - Australia

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Aboriginal Australians - Politics and government

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Aboriginal Australians - Social conditions

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Assimilation (Sociology)

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Australia - Social conditions - 20th Century

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ethnic relations

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Minorities - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Minorities - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Race discrimination - Australia

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)

DVD [PAL]; Preservation Print (Section 5)

Collected

3 times

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/79053--my-survival-as-an-aboriginal/ |title=My survival as an Aboriginal |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=19 April 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}