Queen of the Desert is now available on The Age and SMH TV to stream free online at;
http://www.theage.com.au/tv/Biography/Queen-Of-The-Desert-5000286.html
You can also watch here:
Queen of the Desert from alex kelly on Vimeo.
Queen of the Desert now available on The Age / SMH TV
Queen of the Desert – Awards
Queen of the Desert has been having a great run at international festivals this year, most recently being awarded the Down Under Berlin Film Festival Audience Award.
Other awards include:
Bloody Hero Film Festival – Best Short Documentary
Transcreen Amsterdam – Joint winner Audience Award
Translations Film Festival Seattle – Winner Audience Award
Rio Gay Film Festival – Special Jury Mention
Down Under Berlin Film Festival – Audience Award
Post churchil public talks
Video from the OzDoc ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ presentation in Sydney at AFTRS on 10th July
and podcast from Don’t You Have Docs? and VCA Social Impact Film talk in Melbourne on 10th Sept.
Queen of the Desert – Festival Screenings
Upcoming Screenings:
Qantas Airlines inflight June – December 2013
Past Screenings:
2012:
Cockatoo Island Film Festival Sydney 27th October 2012
Darwin Friday 2nd Nov Fist Full of Films Festival Darwin Entertainment Centre
Olive Pink Botanical Gardens Alice Springs Sunday 18th November 2012
Melbourne Premiere Bella Union, Trades Hall Tuesday 20th 6.30pm
ABC2 TV Premiere Sunday 25th November 9.30pm
ABC2 TV repeat Wednesday 28th November 10.30pm
ABC iview online 26th Nov – 10th Dec
2013:
Rainbow Serpent Festival Lexton, Vic Sunday 27th January
Bloody Hero Film Festival Phoenix, USA February 9th – Winner Best Short Documentary
Bangalore Queer Film Festival, India February 22nd
Mardi Gras Film Festival Sydney February 24th
Melbourne Queer Film Festival March 18th
BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival March 19th and 20th
Sarasota Film Festival, Sarasota USA April 7th and 10th
High Falls Film Festival, Rochester USA April 18-21st
Translations Film Festival Seattle May 2013
Pink Apple Film Festival Switzerland May 2013
Boston LGBT Film Festival 2-12 May
Tel Aviv Queer Film Festival June 2013
Transcreen Amsterdam June 2013
Frameline San Francisco June
Gay Rio Brazil
Queen of the Desert Review – That Munanga Linguist
No, not Priscilla. The real one. Starlady.
ABC2 last night screened a terrific 30min doco about Starlady – a hairdressing, youth worker phenom doing great work in desert communities.If you missed the program then go straight to iView and hope it’s still up there. Here’s the direct link.
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| Starlady in Areyonga. Source: ABC |
Not only was it a wonderful and interesting story, it provided a few genuine gems of wisdom. Starlady demonstrates how to deliver training and youth programs that are popular and engaging to young people in remote communities; a feat that many programs, including government school education delivery, often fails to accomplish. What is particularly special about this story is that the wisdom and positive example is being set by someone who has been discriminated against and would be seen as an outcast by many. Yet Starlady has a lot to teach munanga (non-Indigenous people). Some of the same people who would undoubtedly disparage or discriminate against her would probably be the same people struggling to get beyond their own ignorance to understand how life works in the bush and how to engage with people in communities. It was great to watch this positive story unfold and see how much Starlady actually likes the people she’s working with. (Seriously and sadly – it is not at all a given that munanga working out bush actually *like* Aboriginal people). It was very moving to see her choke back tears while contrasting her city life with her remote community work:
“I was so used to being abused. I had people spitting on me, I had people throwing stuff at me. There was people trying fights everyday on public transport. And I was just being abused so much. And then I went to this place where people gave me lots of love and, you know, I could be this. I could be something special and you could do some really positive things.”
Starlady *gets* it where many government and non-government service providers in remote Australia don’t. Where too many munanga go to communities and see mess, dysfunction and apathy, Starlady correctly sees beyond:
“The young people, they’re styling! There’s a sense of style out in the desert. People take really great personal pride in their appearance out here. But they don’t always have the tools and access to the materials to be able to do that”.
But Starlady’s no academic or deep-thinker. Just a clear-seer. Speaking about remote youth:
“They know that there’s not a lot of real opportunities for them. They know that compared to the rest of Australia they’re living in poverty”.
Starlady’s approach and perspectives should be the norm for non-Indigenous people working out bush but unfortunately, people like her are rare. Dominating service providers like schools just aren’t given the space and freedom to approach education and training the same way. Caught up in NAPLAN testing, policies, curricula and being part of a massive institution makes such dynamism nigh on impossible for most government teachers in remote schools. A pity. It was also great to see in the program some of the responses from the community members in Areyonga to Starlady’s work: the boys on the catwalk showing off; the teenage girls shyly but proudly presenting their style. And the final quote from a community leader is gold:
“I’ve seen the movie Priscilla and I think Starlady is a real queen of the desert. And not Priscilla. Priscilla came here to act but Starlady is for real. And we loved her.”
Lovely. It was a great program and got a great response too, despite having a limited audience because of its 9:30 timeslot on ABC2. A number of tweets raved about the program, such as:
It was so great to see #queenOTD #queenofthedesert on @abc2 tonight. Finally some positive representations of Aboriginal communities on TV.
— Misha (@wirnpa) November 25, 2012
Make sure you catch the program! And keep doing what you do Starlady.
Original blog post.
The Real Priscilla – Queen of the Desert review
The Real Priscilla
All press images courtesy of 360 Degree Films
Last night I attended the Alice Springs premiere of Queen of the Desert at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens. It’s a half-hour doco directed by Alex Kelly and produced by Josephine Wright about Starlady Nungarai, a renowned and well loved ‘translady’ whose weapons of choice in the ubiquitous and wearisome battle to break down barriers between Aboriginal kids and community workers are hair dye, curling wands, straightening irons and makeup.
Utju lies in a beautiful valley
After many years of social work and hairdressing in remote communities, Starlady sets up a hair salon in Utju (Areyonga), a Pitjantjatjara community of about 300, a couple hundred ks west of Alice. She is accepted immediately by young and old, women and men alike. Starlady gets the girls on board as enthusiastic trainee hairdressers while the boys can barely keep away; in her superhero image they all get lightning bolts shaved into their bleached hair.
Busy day at the salon
Never before has a Central Australian community seen a youth worker so colourful and unconventional, and through her truly unique personality and the transformative power of a makeover, Starlady makes a palpably positive impact on the young people’s lives. Resplendent in her infamous giant pink platforms, silver sequined shorts and pink tulle boa, she said after the screening, ‘Utju you’re my family and I love you.’ It was evident throughout the film and from the enormous turnout of Utju community members Starlady’s words were heartfelt and true.
Mary and Starlady
Her fascinating story was exceptional doco fodder, the editing, lively pace and short format pitch perfect, and the juxtaposition of kaleidoscopic costumes with deep desert reds and cerulean skies, dazzling. But the most remarkable element is amidst unrelenting damning news reports of Central Australian Aboriginal communities, Queen of the Desert is the exact opposite. In February Alex Kelly told Matthew Worboys of if.com.au, “Central Australia is often misunderstood and misrepresented, and seen as dysfunctional. The idea that there is a vibrant, creative youth culture in remote Australia is not something that would occur to most people and I wanted to showcase that.” She did so in spectacular fashion.
Director Alex Kelly with Mary and Olivia
The red carpet was replaced with a hot pink one at last night’s premiere. Clad in glitzy op shop finery the film crew and Utju girls sashayed down it arm in arm and struck poses for the hoards of cameras. I’ve never seen an Alice crowd so sparkling, proud and triumphant. Everyone laughed heartily throughout the film, there were screams of delight from the Utju kids whenever one of them did something cheeky, and sighs of bliss whenever an overwhelmingly beautiful desert vista filled the outdoor screen.
Queen of the Desert is precisely what Central Australia needs more of; an expertly executed positive, pro-active story of an extraordinary character engaging wholeheartedly with young people, being accepted as family, and making a genuine, lasting difference, all the while doing it with a wink and a smile. We could all learn a lot from Starlady Nungari, and Alex Kelly and the entire crew should be congratulated for their astonishing achievement which is undoubtedly destined for film festival success.
I implore you to tune in to ABC2 on Sunday November 25 at 9.30pm for its television premiere. Never before has Central Australia looked so fabulous, and never before has a story been told about this complex, confronting and magnificent part of the country that is so incredibly uplifting.
Five starladies from me.
Julia Winterflood http://jwinterflood.com/2012/11/19/the-real-priscilla/
Queen of the Desert – selected news clippings
Front page of the Wangaratta Chronicle – Starlady’s home town paper, November 2012.
Listen
Joy FM podcast with Alex and Starlady
ABC Radio Rural interview with Alex and Starlady
ABC Radio Alice Springs story
Radio Australia interview with Alex and Starlady
Front page Alice Springs paper Centralian Advocate, November 2012
Read
ABC Alice Springs “Ready for our close up” story
Gay Express (NZ) Interview with Starlady
SMH Review of Queen of the Desert
Starlady’s blog
AIDC Round Up on Screen Australia presentation
Inside Film Magazine interview with Alex
Julia Winterflood review of of film and Pink Carpet Premiere
That Munanga Linguist review
MX Newspaper page 3 feature, November 2012
Watch
Queen of the Desert web extras including crew interviews
Sunrise program
‘An inspiring story about a remarkable person’
Greg Hassal, Sydney Morning Herald Review
‘Step Aside Priscilla there is a new Queen in town… We have a lot to learn from indigenous Australia’
Sunday Territorian
I sat and watched that doco tonight with a permanent smile and then in parts, I was laughing out loud with the rest of Areyonga. That was one of the most gorgeous and inspirational stories I have seen in a long while. To work amongst indigenous people and to be privilege to culture is a gift not shared with many, but it seems, you are a light amongst all people with a heart of gold.
Facebook comment
‘How beautiful to see a remote community finally portrayed as creative, healthy and vibrant. Great work @ABC2′
Twitter comment
Last night I had the heartwarming pleasure of attending the Alice premiere of Queen of the Desert, the most uplifting, entertaining and downright outrageous doco about a Central Australian community I’ve ever seen. Five starladies from me!
Julia Winterflood, Blogger
Inside Film Magazine – Queen of the Desert interview
http://if.com.au/2012/03/30/article/PIBXCJUXEF.html
By Matthew Worboys
Director Alex Kelly is always on the lookout for interesting, intercultural projects. Now, with some financial help from Screen Australia, Screen Territory and ABC TV, Queen of the Desert, Kelly’s most recent project for 360 Degree Films is heading to television.
Queen of the Desert follows a youth worker named Starlady who travels to Areyonga, an indigenous community in Central Australia in the hopes of using her hairdressing skills to help the people there.
“Starlady is an amazing character, full of wit, cheekiness and integrity”, says Kelly. “I visited a community in Western Australia where she had helped Wilurrara Creative set up a salon and was struck by the power of the program and immediately saw a film in my mind – it is such a colourful, playful and visual program.”
Living in Alice Springs, Kelly understands the conception some people have of Central Australia, and hopes to show the communities in a more truthful light. “Central Australia is often misunderstood and misrepresented, and seen as dysfunctional”, explains Kelly. “The idea that there is a vibrant creative youth culture in remote Australia is not something that would occur to most people and I wanted to showcase that.”
Shooting over 12 days, the production crew had over 50 hours of footage to whittle down to the required 30 minute run time. Kelly is quick to compliment editor Simon Wright. “[He] has been such a solid person to work with and has really got the story, characters and the things I want to draw out.”
Queen of the Desert is one of five short form documentaries that have been funded by Screen Australia and ABC TV for their Opening Shot scheme. Other documentaries funded include Ben Eriksen’s Future Radicals, a film about the online vigilante group Anonymous, and Project Baby, a documentary about director Shalom Almond attempts at starting a family using controversial Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis IVF.
On what initially interested her about Starlady and indigenous communities represented in Queen of the Desert, Kelly says “I think that examples of people respectfully and powerfully working together are the kinds of stories that Australia needs to hear right now. We hear so many stories of division and violence, I don’t think we talk enough about what works, how and why.”
The documentaries will be shown on ABC2 in mid-2012.
Guestroom Interview – ABC Radio
Alex Kelly, freelance film maker and creative producer
She first came to the Territory protesting against the Jabiluka mine.
Alex then travelled all over the world, making documentaries, screening films, hanging with the Bolivian President (!) and working for social justice organisations in the Netherlands, Spain and Morocco.
Coming back to Australia, Alex moved to Coober Pedy, and then the project of a lifetime drew her to Alice Springs.
That project was Ngapartji, Ngapartji, a groundbreaking theatre, arts and media production which told stories of nuclear testing at Maralinga and taught audiences to speak some Pitjantjatjara.
Ngapartji, Ngapartji has been performed all over Australia: from the Sydney Opera House to Ernabella, the community where it all began.
Alex is also a fixture on the Centralian roller derby scene – Malice Springs. She goes by the name Axel Sparks…
You can listen to Alex’s story here or you can subscribe to our podcast – search for “The Guestroom” in ITunes or Juice or head to our podcast page.
Listen direct here.
Nothing Rhymes with Ngapartji – SMH Review
TREVOR Jamieson is a Pitjantjatjara actor who finds himself straddling two worlds: that of the traditional country where he was raised and the urban white culture in which he plies his trade.
TREVOR Jamieson is a Pitjantjatjara actor who finds himself straddling two worlds: that of the traditional country where he was raised and the urban white culture in which he plies his trade. He made a name in the big smoke with Ngapartji Ngapartji, his acclaimed stage show about the experiences of indigenous peoples around the nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s and early ’60s. The show is performed in two languages, side by side, and so far he has presented it only to English-speaking audiences, including a sellout season at the Sydney Festival. Now he is taking the production thousands of kilometres away to Ernabella, South Australia, for its first performance in front of a traditional Pitjantjatjara-speaking audience. He’s understandably nervous – the show includes references to and footage of deceased people, a taboo in traditional indigenous culture. Much of it involves his father, who died weeks before the Ernabella production.
We follow Trevor and crew as they travel to the remote community and feel his trepidation about the possible community response to the show as he questions his sense of identity. It’s not just that he fears a flogging from the community – a real possibility facing anyone who breaks tribal law – the inner conflict tears at him. From the opening moments of Suzy Bates’s documentary, you know you’re in for something special. Jamieson is engaging and appealing, his personal story compelling and the backdrop of the central desert magnificent.
Bates’s direction is masterful and Jamieson’s trials are beautifully captured as she weaves his story with that of the theatre production, archival footage of the Ernabella mission and memories of those who experienced the devastating ”smoke” that carried poison and sickness to their communities, victims of a tension between superpowers on the other side of the world. Never didactic but always insightful, this is rewarding television.