Welcome to Australia
| Welcome to Australia | |
|---|---|
| File:WelcometoAustralia.jpg
Screenshot of title card
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| Directed by | Alan Lowery |
| Produced by | John Pilger Alan Lowery |
| Written by | John Pilger |
| Starring | John Pilger |
| Music by | Dominic Murcott James Ambler |
| Cinematography | Preston Clothier |
| Edited by | Andrew Denny |
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Production
company |
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Running time
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50 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
Welcome to Australia is a 1999 Carlton Television documentary, written and presented by John Pilger and directed and produced by Alan Lowery that demonstrates the injustices endured by Aboriginal Australian sportsmen and women who were, until recently, denied a place on Australia's olympic teams.[1][2]
Synopsis
In the build-up to the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Pilger finds that the elaborate preparations for the Olympics are overshadowing the reality of many Australia's Aboriginal citizens, who he argues continue to remain excluded, impoverished and mistreated in Australia.[2][3] The film uses sport as a mechanism to draw attention to and tell the story of the injustices endured by Aboriginal Australians while also arguing that Aboriginal Australians could have had a much more significant impact on Australian sport if they had not been deliberately prevented from doing so.[4][5]
Production
Much of the information presented in Welcome to Australia comes from a book called 'Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport', written in 1995 by Colin Tatz. His view of Australia's treatment of Aboriginal athletes and the impoverished conditions faced by many Aboriginal Australians in 1999 lead Tatz to declare that Australia was not worthy of hosting the 2000 Olympics. Tatz argues that if China had made an issue of Australia's human rights record in the way in which Australia chose to make China's human rights an issue, it is unlikely that Australia would have been selected to host the games.[4][6]
Reviews
"Whatever one may think of Pilger's style," stated Richard Ackland of ABC's Media Watch, "his film reminded us of a shameful and tragic history."[7]
Awards
| Ceremony | Category | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Festivals TV Programming & Promotion Competition | National/International Affairs | 1999 | Won[8] |
| WorldFest - Flagstaff | Television Documentary & Information Programme: Political/International Issues | 2000 | Won[8] |
References
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External links
- Use Australian English from July 2015
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Use dmy dates from July 2015
- Pages with broken file links
- English-language films
- 1999 television specials
- British television documentaries
- Documentary films about indigenous rights
- Documentary films presented by John Pilger
- Documentary films about Aboriginal Australians
- Films set in Australia
- Films set in New South Wales
- Australian films
- 2000 Summer Olympics
- Racism in sport
- Documentary films about sportspeople
- Racism in Australia
