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Film Director and Writer Rachel Perkins
Rachel Perkins Rachel Perkins i(A68213 works by)
Born: Established: ca. 1970 ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Arrernte ; Aboriginal Kalkadoon
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Works By

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1 "Grasp the Nettle." Rachel Perkins , 2023 single work short story
— Appears in: The Monthly , October 2023; (p. 82)
1 form y separately published work icon Total Control [Episode 1.3] Pip Karmel , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Blackfella Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2019 20269393 2019 single work film/TV
1 8 form y separately published work icon Total Control Black B*tch Stuart Page , Kim Wilson , Rachel Perkins , Pip Karmel , Angela Betzien , Larissa Behrendt , Nakkiah Lui , Julia Moriarty , Meyne Wyatt , Debra Oswald , ( dir. Rachel Perkins et. al. )agent Australia : Blackfella Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2019-2023 15284926 2019 series - publisher film/TV

'An unlikely national hero, Alex is catapulted into government in a cynical power play. Used, abandoned and underestimated, now she's on a path that will send the political establishment into meltdown.'

Source: Screen Australia.

1 13 form y separately published work icon Mystery Road Michaeley O'Brien , Steven McGregor , Kodie Bedford , Jon Bell , Timothy Lee , Blake Ayshford , Danielle MacLean , ( dir. Rachel Perkins et. al. )agent Australia : Bunya Productions Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2018-2020 11467193 2018 series - publisher film/TV detective

Series one:

'Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two young farm hands on an outback cattle station. One is a local Indigenous footy hero, and the other a backpacker. Working with local cop Emma James (Judy Davis), Jay’s investigation uncovers a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.'

Source: Screen Australia (https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2017/07-12-mystery-road-series). (Sighted: 13/07/2017)


Series two:

'A headless corpse is found floating by the shore in a remote outback town. As if this weren’t mysterious enough, Detective Swan and his colleague Fran have to contend with protests against the excavation of an Indigenous site. And then another body turns up.'

Source: Berlinale program (Sighted: 13/02/2020)

1 form y separately published work icon The Waterhole Timothy Lee , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Bunya Productions Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2018 14121759 2018 single work film/TV
1 form y separately published work icon Gone Michaeley O'Brien , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Bunya Productions Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2018 14121692 2018 single work film/TV
1 form y separately published work icon The Prospector Craig Silvey , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Blackfella Films , 2018 10724717 2018 single work film/TV historical fiction

'In the heart of the Western Australian gold rush a woman risks everything to find her missing husband.'

Source: Screen Australia.

1 Songs to Live By Rachel Perkins , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: The Monthly , July no. 125 2016; (p. 30-35)

'The article offers the author's insights on the importance of traditional Aboriginal songs in the cultural identity of Arrernte people. The author discusses the lack of written languages for Aboriginal Australians, the song cycles recorded by Arrernte women, and the significant changes in the cultural traditions. The author also mentions the Arrernte Women's Project camp that aims to preserve the recorded songs of Arrernte women.' (Publication abstract)

1 18 form y separately published work icon Jasper Jones Shaun Grant , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Porchlight Films Bunya Productions , 2016 8368946 2016 single work film/TV

On the night that Jasper Jones, a young Aboriginal man and social outcast, shows Charlie Bucklin the dead body of young Laura Wiseheart, Charlie's life is changed forever. Believing Jasper to be innocent, Charlie embarks on a dangerous journey to find the killer, defeating the local racists, facing the break up of his parents and falling head over heels in love as he discovers what it means to be truly courageous.

Source: Screen Australia.

1 5 form y separately published work icon Redfern Now : The Telemovie Redfern Now : Promise Me Steven McGregor , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Blackfella Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2014 8441727 2014 single work film/TV

This powerful, heartbreaking and uplifting telemovie explores the impact of a violent crime on two women and the fight for justice.

1 2 form y separately published work icon Black Panther Woman Rachel Perkins , Marlene Cummins , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) 2014 7537116 2014 single work film/TV

'Inspired by their stylish African American brothers, the genesis of the Black Panther's Brisbane Chapter is recounted through the eyes of Marlene Cummins, who looks back on the best and worst experiences of this controversial Aboriginal group in the police state of Queensland, in 1971. This unflinching documentary is a journey through the underbelly of Black experience in the volatile period of the 60s and 70s, from an insider's perspective of a Black Panther woman.' (Source: Screen Australia website)

1 52 form y separately published work icon Redfern Now Jon Bell , Adrian Wills , Steven McGregor , Danielle MacLean , Michelle Blanchard , Wayne Blair , ( dir. Catriona McKenzie et. al. )agent Australia : ABC Television Screen Australia Blackfella Films , 2012-2013 Z1750518 2012 series - publisher film/TV

Redfern Now is 'the first contemporary TV drama series written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians.'

Source: ABC Television website.

1 form y separately published work icon Pretty Boy Blue Steven McGregor , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : ABC Television Blackfella Films , 2012 6037468 2012 single work film/TV

'Aaron Davis is a proud Indigenous policeman: proud of the community in which he works, and very proud of his daughter Robyn and his three-year-old granddaughter Donna.

'It's early morning, and Aaron does his usual boxing training with local kids, and the only thing to mar the day is that he is being taunted by young troublemaker Lenny.

'Late that day as Aaron is finishing up at the station Lenny is brought in yelling abuse. Lenny's been in a bad fight and Aaron is about to call for a doctor. But he stops when Lenny's taunting pushes him too far, and so when Lenny calls out from the cell in pain, Aaron ignores him.

'But Lenny's cries suddenly stop and Aaron realises that something is terribly wrong. He rushes to help, but it's too late — Lenny is dead. And so Aaron's nightmare begins.

'As word of the death spreads, Lenny's brother tries to cause trouble but he and his young friends are held back, talked around by family and community. Lenny's mother, Aunty Mona, asks Aaron whether her boy suffered. Aaron lies and tells her no.

'But when Lenny's family is shown the cell surveillance tapes, Aaron has to find the courage to go and tell Aunty Mona the truth.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 11/6/2013)

1 31 form y separately published work icon Mabo Sue Smith , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Sydney : Blackfella Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2011 Z1792989 2011 single work film/TV

'Tells the story of one of Australia's national heroes: Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Torres Strait Islander who left school at fifteen, yet spearheaded the High Court challenge that once and for all overthrew the fiction of terra nullius.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 20/5/2014)

1 form y separately published work icon The Comet Louis Nowra , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Blackfella Films , 2010 Z1679252 2010 single work film/TV

A love story set in Sydney in 1788, The Comet is based on actual life events between William Dawes, a British marine, and Patygarang, a young Aboriginal woman. The relationship bridging two cultures dramatically changed both their lives and the course of Australian history.

1 79 form y separately published work icon Bran Nue Dae Reg Cribb , Rachel Perkins , Jimmy Chi , Jimmy Chi (composer), Kuckles (composer), ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) 2009 Australia : Robyn Kershaw Productions Mayfan , 2009 Z1562265 2009 single work film/TV (taught in 5 units)

Based on the stage musical of the same name by Jimmy Chi and the band Kuckles, Bran Nue Dae is set in 1969 and follows Willie, a young man who struggles to find a balance between the three things that drive his life: his love for his girl Rosie, his respect for his mother, and his religious faith. Willie's uncomplicated life of fishing and hanging out with his mates and his girl in the idyllic world of Broome is turned upside down when his mother returns him to the religious mission for further schooling and entry into the priesthood. After being punished for an act of youthful rebellion, he runs away from the mission on a journey that leads him to meet his 'Uncle Tadpole' and eventually return to Broome. Along the way, Willie and Uncle Tadpole meet a couple of hippies, spend the night in gaol, and meet a gun-toting roadhouse operator, while managing to stay one step ahead of Father Benedictus, who wants to bring Willie back to the mission.

2 3 y separately published work icon First Australians : An Illustrated History Rachel Perkins , Marcia Langton , Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2008 Z1546617 2008 reference single work information book (taught in 2 units)

'First Australians, the companion book to the epic SBS TV series, is the dramatic story of the collision of two worlds that created contemporary Australia. Told from the perspective of Australia's first people, it vividly brings to life the events that unfolded when the oldest living culture in the world was overrun by the world's greatest empire.

'Through a vast collection of images and historic documents, seven of Australia's leading historians reveal the true stories of individuals-both black and white-caught in an epic drama of friendship, revenge, loss and victory in Australia's most transformative period of history.

'Their story begins in 1788 in Warrane, now known as Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishman, Governor Phillip, and the kidnapped warrior Bennelong. It ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia.

'By illuminating a handful of extraordinary lives spanning two centuries, First Australians reveals, through their eyes, the events that shaped a new nation.' (Publisher's blurb)

1 22 form y separately published work icon First Australians Rachel Perkins , Louis Nowra , Beck Cole , ( dir. Rachel Perkins et. al. )agent Crows Nest Fitzroy Strawberry Hills : Blackfella Films First Nation Films SBS Television , 2008 Z1532374 2008 single work film/TV (taught in 1 units)

'First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. First Australians explores what unfolds when the oldest living culture in the world is overrun by the world's greatest empire.

'Over seven episodes, First Australians depicts the true stories of individuals - both black and white - caught in an epic drama of friendship, revenge, loss and victory in Australia's most transformative period of history.

'The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishmen (Governor Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. First Australians chronicles the collision of two worlds and the genesis of a new nation.' Source: www.sbs.com.au (Sighted 27/09/2008).

1 form One Night The Moon : Script Extract Rachel Perkins , John Romeril , 2001 extract film/TV (One Night the Moon)
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , November-December no. 17 2001;
1 15 form y separately published work icon One Night the Moon John Romeril , Rachel Perkins , ( dir. Rachel Perkins ) Australia : Music Arts Dance Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2001 Z935161 2001 single work film/TV (taught in 1 units)

A young girl goes missing within the Australian landscape and her father refuses to let an Aboriginal man, Albert, be included in the search party and utilise his 'tracking' skills. It is a decision that proves fatal. Months later, the child's mother approaches Albert to begin the tracking process that eventually leads her to her lost child.

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