In a dusty dry cemetery in a little known corner of Western Australia there is a plaque that tells a tragic tale from our gold mining past, but this tale isn't one you'd expect. It is a story of the loss of a newly born baby, a double murder and a gunfight. It is 1902, the major participants are Japanese and the place is called Kanowna, which in the Indigenous language means "place of no sleep."
Intrigued by this little known event I began to ponder about the circumstances of the people in the dry, dusty and unforgiving heat of 'that' place and of the widespread racism of the time. I asked the question, "Why have we ignored the part in Australian history played by people of non-European ancestry?"
The majority of films I have made have been an unconscious attempt to tell these stories, to explore the complex relationships and perhaps in a small part to redress the imbalance.
Kanowna is a story of love and the barriers that faced ordinary people in the extraordinary place. I wanted to explore the impact of cross cultural relationships and expectations in that time. The Western Australian goldfields would have been a harsh and intolerant place with dire consequences for those who stepped outside the social structures, so into this world I ventured with Chomatsu, Osarno and Trooper Brown.
Kanowna is now a ghost town, only empty street remain, but the spirits don't sleep.
Chris Richards-Scully
copyright 31/08/08
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