If you think the Sydney lock out laws are Draconian, consider the Queensland State Government’s Alcohol Management Plan affecting the town of Doomadgee – a first offence penalty for possessing a full strength alcoholic beverage is a fine of $44,175 or incarceration if unable to pay.
Imagine that imposition to the beer swilling burgers of Sydney. The weekend paralytic would be apoplectic, yet this appalling apartheid prohibition is levelled at the indigenous inhabitants, further pathetic paternalism by a white society.
Back in 1930, white Christian missionaries thrashed indigenous culture out of the locals, now there is a concentrated effort to claw it back. Out of a population of a thousand, there were fourteen suicides in twelve months, due partly to alcohol and drugs which is part of the problem of dissociation that prevails in these communities.
The award-winning film ZACH’S CEREMONY, directed and edited by Aaron Petersen features Alec Doomadgee and his son Zachariah, shows one boy’s journey to manhood in a complex, emotionally driven story that explores the fascinating and unique question of what it means “to be a modern man belonging to the oldest living culture on earth.”
Zach is an urban Aboriginal boy attending Concord High. His father, Alec, is determined that Zach knows and understands his heritage, culture and ancestry and promotes his initiation ceremony.
Aaron Petersen does a Seven Up and follows Zach from age 9 through 16, and reveals not only Zach’s cultural journey but the complex relationship he has with his father.
The tensions of teenage-hood are struggle enough but Zach straddles two worlds, ancient and modern, two cultures, black and white, two environments, city and country, and he craves two distinct fulfillments – personal freedom and the pride of his father.
There’s a conflict with his mother too. Now divorced from Alec, she is an aching void in Zach’s life. “All the good moments, and Mum isn’t there.” he says early in the film. Later he hopes she will attend his initiation ceremony, but the likely reality casts a pall over the occasion.
ZACH’S CEREMONY seeks to connect with the disconnected, affect the disaffected, and kindle the conversation to break down barriers that bar us from embracing the full history of Australia.