Night cries: a rural tragedy

Australia, 1990

Film First Nations
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In the red glow of the outback an Aboriginal woman nurses her ill white mother. As we watch the old woman dying her daughter confronts the finality of death; the bitterness of memory. Shot entirely in a studio “Night cries” uses a stark set-design, a palette of colours as from a dream, and a haunting soundtrack: of bush noises, gasping breath, the wail of a dingo, to suggest a world that combines the frightening distortion of a nightmare and the painful isolation of human loss. Subtitled “a rural tragedy” the film’s portrayal of a personal agony illuminates and exposes the general horror of Australia’s race history. With Marcia Langton, Agnes Hardwick and Jimmy Little.

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Credits

director

Tracey Moffatt

producer

Penny McDonald

production company

AFTRS

Duration

00:17:00:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1990

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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/81533--night-cries-a-rural-tragedy-a/ |title=Night cries: a rural tragedy |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=13 November 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}