Newsletter date: 2 February 2014
Contents:
* Upcoming screenings of John Pilger's documentary film, 'Utopia'
* Perth Indymedia Radio Show: Utopia: a new documentary from John Pilger we speak with Robert Eggington about it
[Featuring Robert and Selina Eggington speaking about their involvement in Utopia]
* Joanna Lester, Living Black Radio: Remembering Communities Under The Intervention This Survival Day
[Featuring Elder Rosalie Kunoth Monks explaining her role in Utopia]
* Rewi Lyall, Perth Indymedia Radio Show: [Interview with] Award-winning filmmaker John Pilger on Utopia
* Respect and Listen: Utopia: The MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) panel debate
[Videos featuring participants: John Pilger, Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Amy McQuire, Jeff McMullen]
* Amy McQuire, The Guardian: Australia Day: Indigenous people are told to 'get over it'. It's impossible
[Amy McQuire was a researcher for Utopia]
* Karun Cowper, The Stringer: Utopia
* Cathy Eatock, Green Left: Pilger's Utopia a devastating expose of Australian apartheid
* Emma Sleath, ABC Alice Springs: Utopia plays to a full house in Alice Springs
* Lucy Honan, Solidarity Online: Utopia: the Intervention exposed
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Warren Mundine "wears rose coloured glasses"
[Warren Mundine has criticised aspects of Utopia]
* Background to 'Utopia', John Pilger's documentary film about Aboriginal people in Australia
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* UPCOMING SCREENINGS OF JOHN PILGER'S DOCUMENTARY FILM, 'UTOPIA'
- Upcoming Events
Events: 1-6, 8, 9, 13, 21, 23, 25, 27 February 2014; 2, 6, 10, 16-18 March 2014:
Various locations around Australia including:
Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Yirrkala, Hobart, Brisbane, Sydney, Rozelle, Adelaide,
Geelong, Newcastle, Moree, Cairns, Mona Vale, Parrammatta, Armidale
John Pilger's documentary film, 'Utopia'
"When I began filming this secret Australia 30 years ago,
a global campaign was under way to end apartheid in South Africa.
Having reported from South Africa, I was struck by the similarity
of white supremacy and the compliance and defensiveness of
liberals. Yet no international opprobrium, no boycotts, disturbed
the surface of "lucky" Australia." John Pilger, Guardian
All screenings of 'Utopia': http://utopiajohnpilger.co.uk/showings
Event details: http://utopiajohnpilger.co.uk/
Event details: http://johnpilger.com/
'Utopia' film reviews: http://utopiajohnpilger.co.uk/reviews & http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia.html#Utopia-R... & http://johnpilger.com/articles/utopia-reviews
Respect and Listen Background to 'Utopia' film: http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia.html
WGAR Background to 'Utopia' film: http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia.html#Utopia-W...
* PERTH INDYMEDIA RADIO SHOW: UTOPIA: A NEW DOCUMENTARY FROM JOHN PILGER WE SPEAK WITH ROBERT EGGINGTON ABOUT IT
[FEATURING ROBERT AND SELINA EGGINGTON SPEAKING ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN UTOPIA]
- Audio Interview
Perth Indymedia Radio Show: Utopia: a new documentary from John Pilger we speak with Robert Eggington about it
http://perthindymedia.org/2013/12/23/utopia-a-new-documentary-from-john-...
23 Dec 13: "Utopia: a new documentary from John Pilger we speak with Robert and Selina Eggington from the Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation about their involvement with this film and their hopes of its potential impact."
* JOANNA LESTER, LIVING BLACK RADIO: REMEMBERING COMMUNITIES UNDER THE INTERVENTION THIS SURVIVAL DAY
[FEATURING ELDER ROSALIE KUNOTH MONKS EXPLAINING HER ROLE IN UTOPIA]
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black Radio: Remembering Communities Under The Intervention This Survival Day
By Joanna Lester
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/313798/t...
24 Jan 14: "Elder Rosalie Kunoth Monks explains her role in John Pilger's film Utopia, a film that exposes the truth of government policies. ... Filmed across the country including communities near Alice Springs, Elder Rosalie Kunoth Monks from the Utopia region in the Territory was one of several Elders interviewed for the film. She tells Joanna Lester she believes the film will help people in her communities banish some of their feelings of self-doubt and confusion that have arisen under the intervention." By Joanna Lester
* REWI LYALL, PERTH INDYMEDIA RADIO SHOW: [INTERVIEW WITH] AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER JOHN PILGER ON UTOPIA
- Audio Interview
Perth Indymedia Radio Show: Award-winning filmmaker John Pilger on Utopia
http://perthindymedia.org/2014/01/20/award-winning-filmmaker-john-pilger...
20 Jan 14: "When you think Utopia, you think of a pristine, untainted world. However, in his new documentary about Australia, award-winning filmmaker John Pilger reveals our nations tainted history and a place long at the centre of indigenous identity called Utopia that’s now is a fraction of its former self. John Pilger joined Morning Magazine presenter Rewi Lyall."
* RESPECT AND LISTEN: UTOPIA: THE MCA (MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART) PANEL DEBATE
[VIDEOS FEATURING PARTICIPANTS: JOHN PILGER, ROSALIE KUNOTH-MONKS, AMY MCQUIRE, JEFF MCMULLEN]
- Videos (Short version, Long version, and Q&A)
Respect and Listen: Utopia: The MCA panel debate
http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia/screenings/mc...
"The MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney) screened Utopia several times between 21 and 26 January 2014. On 26 January (Australia day) one screening was followed by a panel debate.
Participants:
John Pilger
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks (Elder from Utopia)
Amy McQuire (Editor of the Tracker magazine)
Jeff McMullen (MC)"
- Related Quotes
Respect and Listen: Utopia: Australian Premiere: Quotes
[scroll down page] http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia/screenings/au...
" ... "This is not a forum for entertainment," Ms Kunoth-Monks said. "This forum is for our survival." ... "I don't think anyone would like to be living in the Northern Territory under the imposed conditions that Aboriginal people are," Ms Kunoth-Monks said....
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Utopia Elder - Koori Mail - 29 January 2014"
" ... [John Pilger] also called Canberra the Utopia, the white Utopia, the Capital. And the contrast between Canberra where all the policy is made and then imposed on us; I thought it was poignant. And then you go to Ampiliwatja and Utopia and you see the abject poverty and it's not accidental, that's how we're being treated," she said. ... Rosalie Kunoth-Monks said this was an "important film all Australians should see". "I believe it's the beginning of an awakening in Australia of the deception and the treatment of Aboriginal people by the government. It is the fact the White Australian policy and the absolute hatred in the last lot of policies, it comes from the government, not from the people of Australia. Let's unite and let's fight it," she said.
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Utopia Elder - NIT - 22 January 2014"
" ... The film itself is obviously an epic in terms of the work of John Pilger. It's a film I believe targets the core of the challenges Aboriginal people face today in relation to issues such as dispossession, issues dealing with suicide, dealing with incarceration; the very issues Dumbartung deals with on a daily basis in terms of our work," he said. ... "It's a film for many generations to come will be absolutely pivotal in terms of awareness and creating a focus on the issues that are important to Aboriginal people," he said.
Robert Eggington, Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation - NIT - 22 January 2014"
* AMY MCQUIRE, THE GUARDIAN: AUSTRALIA DAY: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE TOLD TO 'GET OVER IT'. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE
[AMY MCQUIRE WAS A RESEARCHER FOR UTOPIA]
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Australia Day: Indigenous people are told to 'get over it'. It's impossible
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/27/australia-day-indig...
27 Jan 14: "This month, veteran journalist John Pilger released his new film Utopia in Australia. What he uncovers is an ignored truth. Despite the magnificent wealth of this country, its First Peoples have inherited a legacy of disadvantage that has compounded since the very first days of invasion. It’s compounded by government neglect and apathy, by watered down promises replacing land rights with "reconciliation" and the failure to recognise the ability of Aboriginal people to control their own lives, to grant them true self-determination." Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South sea islander journalist, editor of the largest circulating Aboriginal magazine - Tracker Magazine, a researcher on John Pilger's Utopia documentary
* KARUN COWPER, THE STRINGER: UTOPIA
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Utopia
http://thestringer.com.au/utopia/
28 Jan 14: "It is "Australia Day" and I’m reeling still from the sledgehammer to my psyche that was my first viewing of John Pilger’s "Utopia" a few days ago. It was my honour to have been invited to the premiere screening here in Perth by Robert and Selina Eggington of the Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation. I’ve had the privilege of speaking to Robert and Selina twice now on the Perth Indymedia show. The first time about the suicide epidemic in the Aboriginal community and the second time about their involvement in the development of Utopia. ... " By Karun Cowper
* CATHY EATOCK, GREEN LEFT: PILGER'S UTOPIA A DEVASTATING EXPOSE OF AUSTRALIAN APARTHEID
- Analysis / Opinion
Green Left: Pilger's Utopia a devastating expose of Australian apartheid
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55637
20 Jan 14: "The latest documentary by Emmy and BAFTA award winning film maker and journalist, John Pilger, contrasts two very different worlds: one of white aspiration on Sydney’s northern beaches, and the other the Aboriginal community in the ironically named town of Utopia, located in central Australia. The town has been assessed as the most disadvantaged and poorest community in Australia. The distinction could not be more stark. In his latest film, Utopia, Pilger confronts Australia with the shame of the entrenched neglect and continuing failure ... " Cathy Eatock
* EMMA SLEATH, ABC ALICE SPRINGS: UTOPIA PLAYS TO A FULL HOUSE IN ALICE SPRINGS
- News
ABC Alice Springs: Utopia plays to a full house in Alice Springs
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/01/27/3932764.htm?site=alicespr...
28 Jan 14: "A controversial documentary about Aboriginal Australia has opened to a sold out audience in the nation's heart
The local premiere of John Pilger's Utopia saw a full house at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs over the weekend. Over 400 people attended the screening which had its Australian premiere in Redfern earlier this month. Shot over two years in locations including Central Australia, Sydney and Western Australia, the film is a scathing indictment of government policies concerning Australia's Indigenous people." Emma Sleath, the Cross Media Reporter at 783 Alice Springs since the end of 2009
* LUCY HONAN, SOLIDARITY ONLINE: UTOPIA: THE INTERVENTION EXPOSED
- Analysis / Opinion
Solidarity Online: Utopia: the Intervention exposed
http://www.solidarity.net.au/highlights/utopia-the-intervention-exposed/
21 Jan 14: "John Pilger’s new film Utopia exposes the worsening conditions for Aboriginal people as a product of the return to assimilationist policies, writes Lucy Honan
If you want to know what the Intervention has done to resuscitate assimilation politics and take the struggle for Aboriginal rights back decades, watch John Pilger’s Utopia. Against all the platitudes (amplified for Invasion Day) that pretend the horrors are in the past, and that "the first Australians" are a benign thread in a harmonious Australian national story, Pilger insists on the truth. ... " Lucy Honan
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: WARREN MUNDINE "WEARS ROSE COLOURED GLASSES"
[WARREN MUNDINE HAS CRITICISED ASPECTS OF UTOPIA]
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Warren Mundine "wears rose coloured glasses"
http://thestringer.com.au/warren-mundine-wears-rose-coloured-glasses/
25 Jan 14: "Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council, Warren Mundine has criticised aspects of the John Pilger documentary, Utopia. Mr Mundine said that Australia "is no more racist than anywhere else" and suggested that some of the film’s themes are no more than baseless conspiracy theories. Mr Mundine’s comments outraged high profile Aboriginal leaders who work at the coalface of Aboriginal impoverishment. One said that Mr Mundine "wears rose-coloured glasses" and all of them said he does not represent the interests of Aboriginal peoples." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* BACKGROUND TO 'UTOPIA', JOHN PILGER'S DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT ABORIGINAL PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA
Last updated: 22 January 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2014/01/15/background-to-utopia-john-pilgers-doc...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 22 January 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
- - -
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