Professor Barry Godfrey and Professor Paul Cooke, using his experience as a participatory filmmaker, produced "Roebourne" - a documentary film - thanks to follow-on-funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The film documents the lives of people living in in northern Western Australia today, and the attempts of heritage bodies to capture their experiences (in collaboration with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, local communities and Aboriginal Elders).
Watch the trailer
("Roebourne" – Barry Godfrey and Paul Cooke will be available May 2024.)
Roebourne Trailer from Paul Cooke on Vimeo.
In the far northwestern Australian town of Roebourne lies an abandoned gaol. Previously used as a tool of colonisation, containing Aboriginal people from around the Pilbara, the authorities now plan to re-open it as a heritage asset. This film explores how local people feel about their awful history being packaged for predominantly white tourists passing through; and asks, if not tourism, what can be done to help the people of Roebourne?
Dramatic scenery and blistering heat forms the background for local debates under shady trees, outside the Pilbara Aboriginal Church, and inside the Old Gaol. Elders discuss what lies ahead for their children and grandchildren, and how their culture (and their land) can be preserved in the shadow of thundering land-trains filled with mineral ore transporting the wealth outside of traditional owner’s lands.
Our intention has been to explore the ways in which arts and humanities research can inform approaches to inclusive participatory decision-making, community engagement, co-production, and human rights.
In all of our collaborations we have acknowledged the traditional owners of the land, paying respects to their Elders, past and present. We continue to create exhibitions, films, discussions, and forums for debate about inequalities and the uses of imprisonment.
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