BECK COLE

 

B.1975, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
WARRAMUNGU/LURITJA PEOPLE
LIVES AND WORKS IN SYDNEY AND ALICE SPRINGS,
AUSTRALIA

cole-wirriya-cover-image

Production still from Wirriya Small Boy 2004 / Director: Beck Cole / Image courtesy: Beck Cole and CAAMA Productions, Australia

An important new voice in the genres of documentary and fiction, Cole began her career as a journalist with Imparja Television in Central Australia. Since graduating from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 2002, Cole has directed the majority of her documentaries and short films in Alice Springs. Her films have screened at the Sundance and Edinburgh film festivals and, in 2005, her film Wirriya Small Boy was nominated for Best Short Documentary at the Inside Film Awards in Sydney. Cole is part of a strong Indigenous filmmaking community that is creating new representations of Indigenous culture in contemporary media.

Flat (2002) / All ages
Wirriya Small Boy (2004) / All ages
Plains Empty (2005) / Ages 15+
Lore of Love (2005) / All ages

Film Screening Notes

Flat 2002 / All ages

12 noon Saturday 2 December (with Wirriya Small Boy + Plains Empty), introduced by Beck Cole / Cinema A
Screening weekly 11.30am Fridays (with Lore of Love) / Cinema B 

16MM AND MINI DV, COLOUR, 13 MINS, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT: BECK COLE I PRODUCERS: DARREN DALE, RACHEL PERKINS I CINEMATOGRAPHY: WARWICK THORNTON I EDITOR: KAREN JOHNSON I ART DIRECTION: DARAN FULHAM I MUSIC: CLIFF BRADLEY I CAST: CARMEN GLYNN-BRAUN, SAVANNAH GLYNN-BRAUN, JAMES AITKEN I PRODUCTION CO: BLACKFELLA FILMS I PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: BECK COLE I SCREENING FORMAT: DIGITAL BETACAM

Flat explores family and gender through the character of Marnie, an Indigenous teenager, who uses her father’s video camera to document her life. She discovers that looking through the viewfinder provides her with new perspectives on relationships with those around her. Contrasted against sober 16mm footage of Marnie’s regular existence is her tender, wobbly documentation of her neighbourhood. Flat screened at the 2003 Edinburgh International Film Festival and 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

Wirriya Small Boy 2004 / All ages

12 noon Saturday 2 December (with Plains Empty + Flat), introduced by Beck Cole / Cinema A
Screening weekly from 9 December 1.00pm Saturdays (with Plains Empty) / Cinema   

DIGITAL BETACAM AND MINI DV, COLOUR, 26 MINS, AUSTRALIA, WARLPIRI AND
ENGLISH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: BECK COLE I PRODUCERS: BECK COLE, CITT WILLIAMS I CINEMATOGRAPHY: BECK COLE, WARWICK THORNTON I CAST: RICCO JAPALJARRI MARTIN, MAUDIE NELSON, CHARMAINE NELSON, ROCHELLE DICKENSON, DELENA DICKENSON I PRODUCTION CO: CAAMA PRODUCTIONS I PRINT SOURCE: CAAMA PRODUCTIONS I RIGHTS: CAAMA PRODUCTIONS, BECK COLE / SCREENING FORMAT: DIGITAL BETACAM

Wirriya, which translates from the Warlpiri language as ‘small boy’, is a powerful documentary that presents a day in the life of seven-year-old Ricco Japaljarri Martin. It was filmed over two months with a Mini DV camera, and a crew of only two to allow a greater intimacy. We observe Ricco as he moves between his home with his foster mother on the outskirts of Alice Springs, his school, the library, the pool and the shops. Directed, produced and filmed by Beck Cole, Wirriya won Best Australian Film at the 2004 World of Women Film Festival in Sydney.

Plains Empty 2005 / Ages 15+

12 noon Saturday 2 December (with Wirriya Small Boy + Flat), introduced by Beck Cole / Cinema A 

35MM, COLOUR, 27 MINS, AUSTRALIA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT: BECK COLE I PRODUCER: KATH SHELPER I CINEMATOGRAPHY: WARWICK THORNTON I MUSIC: CLIFF BRADLEY I CAST: NGAIRE PIGRAM, GERARD KENNEDY, KERRY NAYLON, JOSEF BER I PRODUCTION CO: FILM DEPOT I PRINT SOURCE: FILM DEPOT I RIGHTS: FILM DEPOT, BECK COLE, AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION, SBS INDEPENDENT, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION AND NSW FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE

Warwick Thornton’s cinematography captures the extraordinary solitude of the desert landscape in this story of a woman driven to discover the truth about a ghost from the past. Plains Empty has screened at numerous film festivals including the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and Hawai’i International Film Festival.

Lore of Love 2005 / All ages

Screening weekly 11.30am Fridays (with Flat) / Cinema B

DIGITAL BETACAM, COLOUR, 25 MINS, AUSTRALIA, PINTUPI, WARLPIRI, LURITJA AND ENGLISH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT: BECK COLE I CINEMATOGRAPHY: WARWICK THORNTON I CAST: JESSIE BARTLETT NUNGARRAYI, MITJILI GIBSON NAPANANGKA, NANCY GIBSON NAPANANGKA, LIZZIE SPENCER NUNGARRAYI I PRODUCTION CO: CAAMA PRODUCTIONS I PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: CAAMA PRODUCTIONS

The Lore of Love follows Jessie Bartlett, a shy 18-year-old Pintupi girl, as she is taught the traditional lore of love by her mischievous grandmothers Mijili, Nancy and Kumanjayi. The documentary explores the contemporary mediation of Indigenous cultural knowledge and urban lifestyles. Filmed at Lake Mackay, a huge salt lake located on the border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the camera occupies a privileged position as the women speak openly about sexuality, relationships and culture. Jessie’s grandmothers were amongst some of the last Indigenous groups to make contact with white Australians in the 1960s. Stories of jealousy, coming-of-age ceremonies and the Pintupi lore of love are narrated by Jessie as she draws together the elements of her life.