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A film by Michelle Mahrer
URBAN CLAN explores
the background of the three brothers, Stephen David and Russell
Page; how they grew up as urban Aboriginals, developed as
individual artists, and in collaboration with traditional
singer and dancer Djakapurra Munyarryun came together through
the Bangarra Dance Theatre when Stephen Page took over as
Artistic Director in 1991.
The theme of the
family is the anchor point of the film. Three worlds interweave
to create the structure: the Page's own family background;
the wider background of the traditional Aboriginal family
and the present family of Bangarra Dance Theatre.
The film features extracts from the Bangarra Dance Theatre's
production of Fish, which unfolds through rehearsal and performance.
It blends cinema verite scenes with beautifully crafted cinematically-conceived
performance sequences from the production that are staged
for the camera. Through the choreographed works we see how
Bangarra Dance Theatre has developed a distinctive vocabulary
that fuses the essence of their traditional heritage with
contemporary experience.
Nominated Best Documentary AFI, 1998
Winner Best Sound Documentary AFI, 1998
Winner Best Documentary, Dance Screen, Cologne, 1998
Grand Prix Media Dance, France, 1998
Ronin Films (Australia/NZ)
www.roninfilms.com.au
Title:
URBAN CLAN
Finance: ABCTV; BBC (U.K.); FFC
Sales Agent/Distributon: RONIN (Aust) /RD Studio (France +
ROW)
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DEDICATION
In dedication to
Russell Page who passed away in 2002, four years after this
film was made. In loving and respectful memory of an
extraordinary artist who was one of Australia's most important
dancers.
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