Newsletter date: 17 March 2014
Contents:
* Radio New Zealand: Interview with John Pilger on 'Utopia: an Epic Struggle of Resistance'
* Respect and Listen: Utopia Screenings: Chauvel Cinema: Introduction by John Pilger and Q&A session
* Respect and Listen: Utopia Screenings: Green Left Weekly Screening: Ray Jackson, President of ISJA and John Pilger
* Upcoming Event: 21 March 2014, Redfern: Utopia filmmaker John Pilger speaks at STICS Forum: 'Aboriginal Rights; Rebuild the Fight'
* ABC RN Big Ideas: Interview about 'Utopia' with Jared Sharp, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
* Sol Bellear, SMH: Pilger's message to white Australia cannot be dismissed
* Adam Goodes, SMH: Hostility to John Pilger's film a denial of nation's brutal past
* Mel Barnes, co-editor of Green Left Weekly: Adam Goodes says 'have the courage to watch Utopia'
* Martin Flanagan, The Age: Adam Goodes has right stuff to light the way for us all
* NACCHO Aboriginal health: Hostility to Utopia film a denial of nation’s brutal past -Sol Bellear and Adam Goodes
* Respect and Listen: Amnesty International Redfern Action Group: Utopia speech by Gerry Georgatos and Q&A session
* Shyamla Eswaran, Tracker: On the Record: On the spiritual high road
* NIT: Thousands flock to see Utopia
* Respect and Listen: Utopia: Where to get the doco - Ordering the Utopia DVD
* Background to 'Utopia', John Pilger's documentary film about Aboriginal people in Australia
* RADIO NEW ZEALAND: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN PILGER ON 'UTOPIA: AN EPIC STRUGGLE OF RESISTANCE'
- Audio Interview
Radio New Zealand: John Pilger on Utopia
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2587519/john-p...
2 Mar 14: "Thirty years ago, investigative journalist John Pilger exposed the plight of Indigenous Australians in his landmark documentary 'The Secret Country.' He has now returned to the subject in his new documentary 'Utopia: an Epic Struggle of Resistance'."
- Related Audio Discussion
Utopia - A film by John Pilger shared a link. March 12
https://www.facebook.com/Johnpilgerutopia?directed_target_id=0
"Have you heard this "spirited" discussion with John on ABC Radio?! John on fine form here.
RADIO INTERVIEW. Free to download for 5 more days.
https://www.hightail.com/download/elNMV0o4R3NOMUFaQ2NUQw "
* RESPECT AND LISTEN: UTOPIA SCREENINGS: CHAUVEL CINEMA: INTRODUCTION BY JOHN PILGER AND Q&A SESSION
- Videos
Respect and Listen: Utopia Screenings: Chauvel Cinema: Introduction by John Pilger & Q&A session
http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia/screenings/ci...
* RESPECT AND LISTEN: UTOPIA SCREENINGS: GREEN LEFT WEEKLY SCREENING: RAY JACKSON, PRESIDENT OF ISJA AND JOHN PILGER
- Videos
Respect and Listen: Utopia Screenings: Green Left Weekly & Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) Screening:
* Ray Jackson, President of ISJA
* Utopia film director John Pilger answered questions from 6-7pm.
http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia/screenings/gl...
* UPCOMING EVENT: 21 MARCH 2014, REDFERN: UTOPIA FILMMAKER JOHN PILGER SPEAKS AT STICS FORUM: 'ABORIGINAL RIGHTS; REBUILD THE FIGHT'
- Upcoming Event
Event: 21 March 2014: Redfern, Sydney, NSW
Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney
STICS Forum: Aboriginal Rights; Rebuild the Fight
Marking the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Venue: Redfern Town Hall
Speakers include:
* John Pilger, Utopia filmmaker
* Marianne McKay, Nyoongar activist
* Dianne Stokes, Muckaty Traditional Owner
* Aunty Hazel, Grand Mothers Against Removals Gunnedah
"STICS works hard to ensure the voices of
Aboriginal people living under the Intervention
are heard around the country, organising
speaking tours and protests."
Event details: http://www.stoptheintervention.org/
Leaflet: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/NT_Intervention/LEAFLE...
Poster: http://stoptheintervention.org/uploads/files_to_download/Past%20Events/1...
* ABC RN BIG IDEAS: INTERVIEW ABOUT 'UTOPIA' WITH JARED SHARP, NORTH AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL JUSTICE AGENCY
- Audio Interview
ABC RN Big Ideas: Utopia
Presented by Paul Barclay; Guest: Jared Sharp, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/utopia/5311152
11 Mar 14: ""Utopia" is a new documentary on indigenous history and dispossession by provocative journalist John Pilger. After seeing the documentary, a lawyer discusses the contemporary relevance for communities in the Northern Territory. ... "
* SOL BELLEAR, SMH: PILGER'S MESSAGE TO WHITE AUSTRALIA CANNOT BE MISSED
- Analysis / Opinion
SMH: Pilger's message to white Australia cannot be dismissed
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/pilgers-message-to-white-australia-cannot-...
2 Mar 14: "Mainstream Australia has long lacked a real education about Aboriginal people, about our shared history, and this nation's brutal past. Fortunately, there's a simple way in – an opportunity to get a "punter's guide" to the truth about the treatment of Aboriginal Australians. John Pilger's latest film, Utopia - a 110-minute feature length documentary more than two years in the making - should be required viewing for all Australians, in particular lawmakers." Sol Bellear, chairman of the Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern, a long-time Aboriginal activist
* ADAM GOODES, SMH: HOSTILITY TO JOHN PILGER'S FILM A DENIAL OF NATION'S BRUTAL PAST
- Analysis / Opinion
SMH: Hostility to John Pilger's film a denial of nation's brutal past
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/hostility-to-john-pilgers-film-a-denial-of...
3 Mar 14: "For the last few weeks, I've seen a film bring together Aboriginal people all over Australia. The buzz around Utopia - a documentary by John Pilger - has been unprecedented. Some 4000 people attended the open-air premiere in Redfern last month - both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians - and yet little appeared in the media about an event that the people of Redfern say was a ''first''. This silence has since been broken by a couple of commentators whose aggression seemed a cover for their hostility to the truth about Aboriginal people." Adam Goodes
* MEL BARNES, CO-EDITOR OF GREEN LEFT WEEKLY: ADAM GOODES SAYS 'HAVE THE COURAGE TO WATCH UTOPIA'
- Analysis / Opinion
Green Left: Adam Goodes says 'have the courage to watch Utopia'
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56019
8 Mar 14: "Aboriginal footballer and Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes, has given high praise to John Pilger’s new film Utopia at the same time as condemning the mainstream media for their silence in reviewing the film or mentioning the large crowds that have come out to watch free screenings. In an article for the Age on March 3, Goodes wrote: "Some 4000 people attended the open-air premiere in Redfern last month - both Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians - and yet little appeared in the media about an event that the people of Redfern say was a ‘first’. This silence has since been broken by a couple of commentators whose aggression seemed a cover for their hostility to the truth about Aboriginal people. ... " By Mel Barnes
Mel Barnes - Green Left
https://www.greenleft.org.au/taxonomy/term/967
"Mel Barnes lives in Wollongong and is a co-editor of Green Left Weekly. She has been an activist for environmental and social justice issues since 2003, and is a member of Socialist Alliance."
* MARTIN FLANAGAN, THE AGE: ADAM GOODES HAS RIGHT STUFF TO LIGHT THE WAY FOR US ALL
- Analysis / Opinion
The Age: Adam Goodes has right stuff to light the way for us all
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/adam-goodes-has-right-stuff-to-lig...
8 Mar 14: "This week, Goodes had another article published concerning the John Pilger documentary Utopia. The buzz around Utopia, he wrote, had been unprecedented yet little had appeared about it in the mainstream media. ... It's a fact that a lot of Australians don't want to know about Aboriginal Australia, or our shared history, but there's a solid bloc of people who do. The question is what to do next. A lot of Australians are waiting for leaders to emerge who will deal authentically and constructively with this issue - Aboriginal leaders, non-Aboriginal leaders and, hopefully, a leader for us all. It could be Adam Goodes we're waiting for." Martin Flanagan, Sports Writer for The Age
* NACCHO ABORIGINAL HEALTH: HOSTILITY TO UTOPIA FILM A DENIAL OF NATION'S BRUTAL PAST -SOL BELLEAR AND ADAM GOODES
- Analysis / Opinion
NACCHO Aboriginal health: Hostility to Utopia film a denial of nation’s brutal past -Sol Bellear and Adam Goodes
[NACCHO: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation]
http://nacchocommunique.com/2014/03/04/naccho-aboriginal-health-hostilit...
4 Mar 14: ""Put yourself in Aboriginal shoes for a minute.
Imagine watching a film that tells the truth about the terrible injustices committed over 225 years against your people, a film that reveals how Europeans, and the governments that have run our country, have raped, killed and stolen from your people for their own benefit.
Now imagine how it feels when the people who benefited most from those rapes, those killings and that theft - the people in whose name the oppression was done - turn away in disgust when someone seeks to expose it.""
* RESPECT AND LISTEN: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REDFERN ACTION GROUP: UTOPIA SPEECH BY GERRY GEORGATOS AND Q&A SESSION
- Videos
Respect and Listen: Utopia Screenings: Amnesty International Redfern Action Group: Speech by Gerry Georgatos and Q&A session
http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia/screenings/Am...
* SHYAMLA ESWARAN, TRACKER: ON THE RECORD: ON THE SPIRITUAL HIGH ROAD
- Analysis / Opinion
agendaTracker: On the Record: On the spiritual high road
http://tracker.org.au/2014/03/on-the-record-on-the-spiritual-high-road/
6 Mar 14: "NATIONAL: The Sydney premiere of ‘Utopia’, John Pilger’s latest documentary deeply moved me. I was one of thousands who gathered in the open air at the Block in Redfern, the iconic Koori heart of Sydney, writes SHYAMLA ESWARAN*. I was surrounded by an endless sea of faces, all colours, all ages, and, no doubt, all creeds. All eager to watch Pilger’s brutal celluloid confrontation of our nation’s bleak history and its continuing toll on relations between our First Peoples and all of those who have arrived since 1788. It was bittersweet." By Shyamla Eswaran, the former Associate Publisher of Tracker Magazine. She holds a BA in Communications and a Masters of Human Rights Law and Policy
* NIT: THOUSANDS FLOCK TO SEE UTOPIA
- Analysis / Opinion
NIT: Thousands flock to see Utopia
Part 1: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/Misc/Docos/nit20140122...
Part 2: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/Misc/Docos/nit20140122...
22 Jan 14: " ... The film does quite deliberately use her [Rosalie Kunoth-Monks] community of Utopia to contrast the physical and human rights differences between black and white Australians ... John Pilger told the audience Australia truly was the lucky country. Lucky it had as yet escaped the fate of an Apartheid-era South Africa. ... For John Pilger it was the 2007 Northern Territory Intervention that made him realise the film that became Utopia was overdue. ... "
* RESPECT AND LISTEN: UTOPIA: WHERE TO GET THE DOCO - ORDERING THE UTOPIA DVD
- Order Utopia DVD
Respect and Listen: Utopia: Where to get the doco
http://www.respectandlisten.org/miscellaneous/docos/utopia.html#Utopia-W...
"Order DVD
Australia: http://www.antidotefilms.com.au/details.php?filmid=4453
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-John-Pilger-DVD/dp/B00FQLK2II ... "
* BACKGROUND TO 'UTOPIA', JOHN PILGER'S DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT ABORIGINAL PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA
Last updated: 7 March 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2014/01/15/background-to-utopia-john-pilgers-doc...
- - -
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
About WGAR News:
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/30/about-wgar-news-working-group-for-abo...
Subscription to 'WGAR News' is free.
'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:
* the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities;
* the Aboriginal sovereignty movement and the Aboriginal tent embassies;
* Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
* Aboriginal land rights and mining;
* Suicide and self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
* Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing;
* other Aboriginal rights issues; and
* upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia.
'WGAR News' gives priority to grassroots Aboriginal voices and grassroots voices in solidarity with Aboriginal peoples' rights.
The role of 'WGAR News' is to facilitate the voices of others, and as such, 'WGAR News' rarely writes its own articles.
'WGAR News' publishes information and opinions from a wide range of sources.
These opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of WGAR.
The e-newsletters include media releases, opinion pieces, news items, audio, videos and events.
Subscribers can expect to receive about 7 e-newsletters each week.
To subscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "subscribe WGAR News" in the message header.
To unsubscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "unsubscribe WGAR News" in the message header.
Sample WGAR News e-newsletters:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-sample-wgar-news-e-ne...
WGAR events postings:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-wgar-events-postings
WGAR background info web-pages:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-wgar-background-info-...
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)