AFTER 18 years behind the camera, Indigenous filmmaker Tom Avery’s work has been honoured at a major international festival.
The 70 year-old Miranda resident won the award for best Indigenous short film at the 2018 Regina International Film Festival.
The festival was held in the city of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from August 14-18.
Tom did not attend, but said the award for his film Traditional Aboriginal Art – Fact or Fiction had come as “quite a shock”.
The film was shot in Ulladulla and explores the question of what constitutes traditional Aboriginal art?
Tom said he used to sell his didgeridoos and artwork at a market stall in Sydney.
“People always asked the same question – is it traditional?” he said.
“I said it’s done by an Indigenous person, therefore it’s authentic, but what do you mean traditional?”
He spent a good deal of time examining Indigenous rock paintings in Ulladulla with respected elder of the local Murramarang people Fred Carriage, who has since passed away.
He also spoke to other locals, including Fred’s son and Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive Shane Carriage and conducted research online, putting the results together to make “a very colourful film”.
“A few have come to the conclusion that if it’s genuine art by an Indigenous.person and tells a story, it’s traditional – I agree with that, too,” he said.
Tom made his first film in 2002 but it wasn’t until 2005 that he “got serious” and decided he wanted to be a filmmaker.
He won the people’s choice award at a festival in Shoalhaven in 2007 and best in show at a festival in Bowen in 2009, but this was his first award at a major international festival.
Tom has written the screenplay for a feature film called From the Darkness, which tells the story of a young mother who learns of her Aboriginality when her baby is stolen by an evil spirit.
The screenplay attracted interest from producer David Hannay prior to his death in 2014 and Tom still hopes to be able to finance the film and get it made one day.
To learn more about Tom and his films, click here.
