AustLit

'In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and as the nation ponders the Uluru Statement from the Heart, there is increasing public interest in biographies of Aboriginal subjects. Henry Reynolds and Nick Clements’ Tongerlongeter (2021) and Cassandra Pybus’ Truganini (2020) have provided new understandings of the violent dispossession of the palawa/pakana peoples of lutruwita from Country that colonists named Van Diemen’s Land.'  (Introduction)

'Nitram is a work of art, and deserves to be examined on these terms. It also demands engagement with the story it tells. But before doing either, it is important to consider what a radical and confronting act it is to make a film that explores the sources of an event that continues to throb with trauma. This film is about the Port Arthur massacre of 28–29 April 1996. Although it occurred a generation ago it is far too soon for many Tasmanians to consider the event historical, or to believe there is any merit in making a film about it. Nitram has appeared on only two screens in southern Tasmania, and has not been publicised in the state out of sensitivity for the community.' (Introduction)