ARAATIKA: RISE UP!
Australia, 2021, 87 minutes, Colour.
Dean Winters, Stephen Page, Stan Grant, Adam Goodes.
Directed by Larissa Behrendt.
A significant documentary on First Nation’s culture. The director, Larissa Behrendt, made a number of documentaries on these issues including After the Apology and You Can Go Now.
The particular focus, dear to Australian audiences, is the National Rugby League, important for Queensland and New South Wales.
The focus is on player, Dean Winters, a significant player during the 2000 is. He focuses on aboriginal culture and rituals, especially dance, and is very much influenced by the Maori pre-game ceremony of the Harker. With the help of a choreographer, the players developed movements which reflected culture, incorporating them into a ritual.
During the documentary, there are a number of talking heads, including Stephen Page, founder and Dir of the anger and Dance Company, television personality, Stan Grant, an star of AFL, Adam Goodes, and a retrospective on the racial treatment, racist treatment, he received over many years despite his many football awards.
A creative film as well is a culturally challenging film.
Araatika! Rise Up follows Dean Widders’ personal journey to share his culture with the world.
In 2012, a group of First Nations NRL players, including Dean Widders, Preston Campbell, Timana Tahu and George Rose, with help from dancer and choreographer Sean Choolburra, came together to develop a pre-game ceremony that would be a response to New Zealand’s much loved, universally recognised and hugely respected Haka.
Rather than simply taking an existing dance, the players came up with a series of movements that reflected cultural symbols – the clan, the warrior, the boomerang, the spear. They concluded their new dance with a moment of reflection – to them, this emphasised that the silences are just as important, or even more important, than the spoken words.
The film also follows Widders' own personal family story and features interviews with his mother and father.
