Tintu Pakani: Sunrise Awakening
The film captured the first professional performance by Black Theatre's dance group under the direction of Carole Johnson in 1976, which shares a strong relationship to the subjects of William Yang's photographs currently displayed within the Chau Chak Wing Museum as part of the Biennale. Andreea's film was the winner of the documentary prize at the Sydney Flim Festival of 1976. Andreea will be available to sign copies of her book From Slavery to the Stars.
Photograph by Scott Martin
About the presenter
At the age of 85, Andreea Kindryd is a remarkable storyteller with an amazing story to tell. She is a film maker, writer, performer and mediator. One of the first two black staff hired by a major television studio in the United States, Andreea has lived in Australia for more than five decades. She has worked with black theatre, NAISDA Dance College, and helped launch Bangarra Dance Theatre. At the age of 68, she took to the stage for the first time and discovered her voice and natural talent for storytelling.
About the film
Tintu Pakani: Sunrise Awakening was first screened at the 1976 Sydney Film Festival where it won the prize for documentary film that year. It features the Black Theatre Arts and Culture Centre in Redfern where the first national Aboriginal performing arts six-week workshop was held in 1975. That workshop acted as a catalyst for spreading the performance movement and participants became trailblazers back in their home communities. Tjintu Pakani: Sunrise Awakening also includes footage of the first professional performance by Black Theatre's dance group under the direction of Carole Johnson in 1976. The film is at once an important historical document and an entertaining, informative overview of the importance of dance in the creation and regeneration of Aboriginal cultural identity. The students featured in Tjintu Pakani went on to influence, teach and mentor other Aboriginal people, sharing their knowledge, skills and expertise across Australia and beyond.
The screening is made possible with the assistance of the National Film and Sound Archives
Header image: Cheryl Stone & Wayne Nicol, Tintu Pakani: Sunrise Awakening Film still.