THE LAST DAUGHTER
Australia, 2022, 90 minutes, Colour.
Brenda Matthews, Max and Connie Ockers, the Simon Family.
Directed by Brenda Matthews, Nathanial Schmidt.
This documentary is based on a very personal book by Brenda Matthews who appears in this film and co-directs. It is a challenge for Australian audiences.
Brenda Matthews, in middle age, realises that she has been caught in two worlds. She presents the story of her being taken from her indigenous family, considered by the authorities as a neglected child, taken from her mother and her father who was an aboriginal pastor, falsely considered as neglectful. But, at such a young age, she has minimal memory of her family.
The film shows her growing up in a white family, caring foster parents, Mac and Connie Ockers, siblings, especially a sister, Rebecca. In these early years, she considers herself simply a part of the family, and the film incorporates photos and home movie sequences of her happy life. Eventually, she realises that she is black, unlike the rest of her family.
The film has quite an amount of interview material, especially the sympathetic Ockers who relish the memories of having Brenda as part of the family, but mystified about what happened to her when she was taken back to her original family. The film also has quite an amount of interview material with Brenda’s mother, with other members of the family, her mother elderly now, discovering the governmental accusations about neglect, the taking of Brenda. On being returned to her family, Brenda then grows up in that context but with vague memories of the past.
As the film opens, and the publication of her book, Brenda moves with her husband to investigate the past, to make contact with the Ockers. In her talking to camera, especially at her age and the many years having passed, Brenda is unsure as to what will happen. And her mother is not keen on the meeting.
Eventually, there is a meeting, the Ockers willing and delighted, the families travelling to meet each other, and the possibilities of understanding, of critiquing the policies of the Stolen Generation (and, in this case, its being exercised after the program was terminated in 1970). The Ockers are delighted to have this contact with Brenda again. There have been long experiences of hurt for all those involved and now is a time for healing the hurts, for reconciliation, for hope.
