BLACKBIRD is an award-winning short narrative film written and directed by Australian-Solomon Islander filmmaker Amie Batalibasi. BLACKBIRD shines a light on a little-known and dark part of Australia’s history.
SYNOPSIS
BLACKBIRD (13mins, PG) tells the story of Solomon Islander siblings, Rosa & Kiko, who were kidnapped from their island home to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland, Australia in the late 1800s. Rosa struggles to keep an eye on her young spirited brother who comes into conflict with their Overseer. And as Kiko journeys into adulthood, amidst oppression and severe loss of culture and identity, he must find his will to survive.
For behind the scenes photos and updates go to: www.facebook.com/blackbirdfilmproject
WATCH BLACKBIRD
ONLINE
• SBS OnDemand (Australia)
• VIMEO OnDEMAND (Worldwide)
• KANOPY (available via Australian universities & International libraries, universities, tertiary level institutions)
• IndigiFLIX (Worldwide) – INDIGIFLIX is a 100% First Nations Australian owned subscription platform that supports First Nation story-tellers and gives their productions a unique home for easy viewing.
DVD
• Distributed by RONIN FILMS: click here
SCREENINGS
Community, festival & educational screenings can be organised through contacting RONIN FILMS.
TELEVISION BROADCAST
BLACKBIRD had it’s Australian television broadcast debut on NITV/ SBS OnDemand in 2017. In 2019, ABC International acquired broadcast rights for BLACKBIRD to screen throughout 40 countries in the Asia Pacific region, free to air via the ABC Australia platform.
Amie began developing the feature film adaptation of BLACKBIRD as the Sundance Institute’s 2017 Merata Mita Fellowship recipient through the Native and Indigenous Film Program.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
“The Australian South Sea Islander community played a significant role in the development of Australia’s sugar and cotton industries. Between 1863 and 1904, an estimated 55,000 to 62,500 Islanders were brought to Australia to labour on sugar-cane and cotton farms in Queensland and northern New South Wales. These labourers were called ’Kanakas’ (a Hawaiian word meaning ’man’) and their recruitment often involved forced removal from their homes. This practice of kidnapping labour was known as ’blackbirding’ (’blackbird’ was another word for slave). They came from more than 80 Pacific Islands, including Vanuatu (then called the ’New Hebrides’) and the Solomon Islands, and to a lesser extent, from New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Tuvalu.” SOURCE: www.humanrights.gov.au
FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
• 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece, 2022
• Berlinale International Film Festival, Berlin, 2019
• Films D’Auteur/Language Ancestrales Festival, Musee du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris, France 2019
• TeKūki ‘Āirani Film Festival, Cook Islands, 2019
• Smithsonian’s Mother Tongue Film Festival, Washington DC, USA, 2019
• Honolulu African American Film Festival, Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii, 2018
• Festival Rochefort Pacifique, France, April, 2018
• Melbourne Women in Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia, 2018.
• Sydney Indie Film Festival, 2017. Winner: Best Drama Film, Best Female Lead & Nominated: Best Male Lead
• St Kilda Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia, 2017
• 14th FIFO International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival, Tahiti, 2017
• Maoriland Film Festival, New Zealand, 2017. Winner: People’s Choice Award for Best Short
• imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2016. Participant: 2016 imagineNATIVE Story Lab
• New Zealand International Film Festival, Auckland, New Zealand, 2016
• WINDA Film Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2016
• Skábmagovat Film Festival, Inari, Finland, 2016
• Pasifika Film Fest, Sydney & Brisbane, Australia, 2016. Winner: Best of the Fest Award
• Wairoa Maori Film Festival, New Zealand, 2016
AWARDS
• Best Drama Film (Short), Sydney Indie Film Festival, 2017.
• Best Female Lead (Regina Lepping), Sydney Indie Film Festival, 2017.
• People’s Choice Award Best Short Film, Maoriland Film Festival, NZ 2017
• ‘Best of the Fest’ Award, Pasifika Film Fest, Sydney/ Brisbane, 2016.
• Moving Clickers ‘Kickalong’ Award for Postgraduate FTV (Narrative) Production Script Award, VCA School of Film and TV, Melbourne University, 2015.
• Recipient of the 2015 Panavision Script Production Award, VCA School of Film and TV, Melbourne University.
• Recipient of the Margaret Lawrence Social Justice Award 2015, VCA School of Film and TV, Melbourne University.
• Recipient of funding from Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) – Mackay City Council, Queensland State Government, 2015.
MEDIA
Articles
• The Australian: “Blackbird tells the grim tale of slavery in Queensland’s cane fields”, Feb 2019.
• NITV/ SBS website: Blackbird: an emotional film tells the untold history of Australia’s sugar slaves, Oct 2017.
• Radio Australia: Solomon Islanders shine in award-winning historical film, Blackbird, Oct 2017.
• Solomon Islands Broadcasting Commission Online: Young Solomon Islander actor wins prestigious Sydney film award, Oct 2017.
• ABC, “Short Film ‘Blackbird’ explores dark part of Australian South Sea Islander History“, Mackay, QLD, 9 Dec 2015.
• ABC Tropical North, “Short Film Highlights the History of Blackbirding”, Mackay, Qld, 28 July, 2015.
• The Star Weekly, “Blackbird Takes Flight”, Melbourne, 24 June, 2015.
• ABC Tropical North, “Australian South Sea Islander history to be reflected in short film”, Mackay, Queensland, 10 June, 2015.
• The Daily Mercury, “Filmmaker draws on family history in her documentary”, Mackay, Queensland, 6 June, 2015.
• Guest Speaker: Australian Association for Pacific Studies Inaugural Epeli Hau‘ofa Annual Public Lecture: ‘Black Australia: entangled histories on Queensland’s cane fields’, James Cook University, 29 May, 2015.
Radio:
• Radio New Zealand, “Film to Explore Blackbirding of Solomon Islanders“, International, Radio Interview with director Amie Batalibasi, 7 July 2015.
• Greg King’s Film Reviews, “Blackbird Interview with Amie Batalibasi” , Podcast, Melbourne, December 2015.