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form y separately published work icon Samson and Delilah single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Samson and Delilah
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Samson and Delilah tells the story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community. They live in a sparse environment but one that absorbs all manner of cultural influences, where dot painting and country music exist side by side. Samson gets through his days by sniffing, while Delilah is the caregiver for her nana before taking a moment for herself to listen to Latino music. Their journey ranges across many of the most urgent issues concerning Indigenous people in Australia, homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and substance abuse, but it does so with tenderness, dignity, and even humour.'

Source: Adelaide Film Festival website, www.adelaidefilmfestival.org/ Sighted: 23/02/2009

Notes

  • Samson and Delilah was chosen as Australia's official entry for best foreign language film for the 2009 Academy Awards. (The award nominations and winners are announced in 2010.)
  • Samson and Delilah was awarded the 2009 Film of the Year by the Australian Catholic Film Office.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Language: Warlpiri
Notes:
Some dialogue in Warlpiri with English subtitles.

Works about this Work

A Historical Review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Storytelling, Resistance, Reclamation and Education through Film Emma Gavin , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues , December vol. 26 no. 3-4 2023;
Silent But Deadly: A Review Of "Samson & Delilah" Rayane Tamer , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: NEW : Emerging Scholars in Australian Indigenous Studies , March vol. 5 no. 1 2020;

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
'Ironically, since European colonisation, there has been a deafening silence of Indigenous representation in all forms and at all societal levels. As Stanner asserts, Indigenous people have been written out of history (1967, p. 22), but the disappearance of our First Nations people is not limited to just the encyclopaedias. Australians have long been viewing media and cinema through a white lens, largely representing an Anglo society, and by its binary, neglecting the Indigenous society that – while subjugated to a near nothingness – remains poignant to this nation’s existence. Indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton challenges this white lens in Samson & Delilah (2009), in what has been hailed as Australia’s ‘most important film’ (Redwood 2009, p. 27). Thornton’s film encapsulates the post-colonial state of Indigenous society through a perspective that is rarely shown, but is necessary for the nation and, more generally, the world, to understand the ways in which the First Nations people are subordinated on their own land.'
‘The History That Has Made You’. Ego-Histoire, Autobiography and Postcolonial History Anna Cole , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , vol. 16 no. 4 2019; (p. 527-538)

'This article takes inspiration from the methodology of ego-historie, where political or intellectual history, institutional affiliations and research trajectories are interwoven with personal reflection, to make connections between context and content. In his essay on ego-histoire (2014) John Docker writes of the ‘marrano-like’ figure, the stranger as evoked by Georg Simmel, both inside and outside a group, disturbing it by a kind of abstraction, a freedom to question what others in the group take as given. Here I employ my insider/outsider status as a British migrant and a ‘naturalised’ Australian to reflect on the ambivalent at best and deliberately ignorant, at worst, relationship between contemporary Britain and postcolonial Australia. As the child of immigrants to Australia, who has returned to the ‘mother-country’ as an adult, I use aspects of my autobiography to reconsider the dynamics of colonialism and post-colonialism in these two countries.' (Introduction)

Freda’s Fingerprints Bruce Pascoe , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
At the Movies: Contemporary Australian Indigenous Cultural Expressions – Transforming the Australian Story Lynn Griffin , Michelle Trudgett , Steven Griffin , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , December vol. 47 no. 2 2018;
'Cinema is an art form widely recognised as an agent to change the social condition and alter traditional norms. Movies can be used to educate and transform society's collective conscience. Indigenous Australian artists utilise the power of artistic expression as a tool to initiate change in the attitudes and perceptions of the broader Australian society. Australia's story has predominately been told from the coloniser's viewpoint. This narrative is being rewritten through Indigenous artists utilising the power of cinema to create compelling stories with Indigenous control. This medium has come into prominence for Indigenous Australians to express our culture, ontology and politics. Movies such as Samson and Delilah, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires and Rabbit-Proof Fence for example, have highlighted the injustices of past policies, adding new dimensions to the Australian narrative. These three films are just a few of the Indigenous Australian produced films being used in the Australian National Curriculum.'
Heir Apparent Des Partridge , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 25 - 26 April 2009; (p. 6-7)

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
A World beyond Words David Stratton , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 May 2009; (p. 21)

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
Film of the Week Tom Ryan , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 3 May 2009; (p. 26)

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
Silent Life of 'Untouchables' Amanda Dardanis , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 3 May 2009; (p. 9)

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
Lessons in Empathy for Racist Australia Tim Kroenert , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 8 May vol. 19 no. 8 2009;

— Review of Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton , 2009 single work film/TV
Outback Kids Feel the Love in Movie Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 21-22 February 2009; (p. 11)
Australian Film is Alive and Kicking Goals Paul Kalina , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 24 February 2009; (p. 16)
Reel Time Michael Bodey , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 25 February 2009; (p. 14)
Bridging the Gaps Sarah Parkes , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 April 2009; (p. 23)
Locals Star in Powerful Tale of Tough Times Andra Jackson , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 18 April 2009; (p. 5)
Last amended 20 Jun 2016 12:35:14
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