Eve Lamb
A new documentary film exploring the untold story of Australia’s African past and set to premiere on SBS this month was directed by Castlemaine based Tony Jackson and produced by Castlemaine based production company, Chemical Media.
The debut televised screening of Our African Roots is scheduled for 8.30pm on Sunday October 17 on SBS as the sixth stand-alone documentary in SBS’s Australia Uncovered strand.
The landmark documentary that tells the lost story of Australia’s African heritage was also directed and co-produced by Castlemaine’s Tony Jackson and edited by Castlemaine’s Bergen O’Brien.
In it, the film’s co-producer and presenter, author and journalist Santilla Chingaipe rips up the monocultural myth of
Australia’s white foundation narratives and colours in our nation’s history books by re-telling the stories of the black African convicts, bushrangers, feminists and rebels who played a seminal role in events that shaped the nation.
“When Santilla came to my company with the proposal our jaws just hit the floor,” says Jackson who owns Chemical Media.
“Our jaws just hit the floor and we were like – ‘What! How do we not know this?!’
“SBS were equally as excited at the prospect.”
Last week Jackson told the Mail that key scene re-creations featured in the historic documentary were shot locally at Redesdale with other significant moments shot in Castlemaine and Campbells Creek. Read more in today’s Mail…
