HER NAME IS A NANNY NELLIE
Australia, 2023, 78 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Daniel King.
A significant contribution to documentaries focusing on Australian First Nation’s history and issues.
Below is the official statement from the director, Daniel King.
The issue is statues being made of aboriginal men and women and children, to be exhibited in the Australian Museum. Descendants of Nellie Walker, make contact with the Museum, with experts, who are working on the statues made, adapting them for a more contemporary perspective on the subjects, more respect for them.
The point is made that with the assimilation policy, it was assumed that full blood aboriginal men and women would disappear, so that the statues, artificial and stylised, would be Museum reminders of the past.
The film is very emotional with two women in their quest, the memories, research, discussions with curators, discussions with artist and restorers, respectfully bringing to life their ancestors, the reality of their lives, the withdrawal from exhibition until a more balanced and respectful display was possible.
“Statues are made to honour Gods, and people of historical importance, to remind us of values to honour. In 1925 the Australian Museum statue made a statue of my mum’s great grandmother. But she wasn’t being honoured. She was made because of how she looked. She was made as an object to be studied. But she wasn’t just an object to be studied. Her name was Nellie Walker. She was an Aboriginal woman who lived for 67 years, under the Aborigines Protection Board, who loved and bore three children, but who had then taken away.
In 1925 the Australian Museum put 3 statues on display; naked but for possum skins, and nameless. Now my mum Irene wants them back on display, with their names, and stories. She will retrace Nanny Nellie’s life, from the Museum’s archives, to key places in her life. It will culminate when the statues are unveiled again in the Museum. This is a documentary about reclaiming our history, to change how we remember and represent, to give the nameless names.”
Daniel King
