Pledge to this campaign, receive awesome rewards and help us to make the 'Blackbird' Film Project shoot happen in July 2015 on location in Mackay Qld for what will be a collaboration between professionals, students and community. Your donation goes towards assisting us to tell this important untold story.
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'Blackbird' is a short period drama that contends with social issues surrounding Australian South Sea Islanders, telling the untold story of the exploitation of Pacific Islanders rooted in the beginning of Australia's sugar industry.

Blackbird is set in the early 1870s and follows the story of Solomon Islander siblings Kiko (14) and Rosa (24) who were kidnapped from their homelands and brought to work on a sugar plantation in Queensland’s Pioneer Valley. Kiko and Rosa are entangled in a world driven by commercial gain where exploitation of Pacific Islanders for cheap labour is legislated and conditions for Islanders are akin to slavery.

Rosa struggles to day-to-day while trying to hold onto her culture and identity, and keeping an eye on Kiko, who is growing ever resistant to their bleak situation. Rosa is torn between silently prevailing, and saving her brother from the Kiko's impending confiict with their ill-tempered overseer.


Australian South Sea Islanders planting sugar cane on a plantation at Bingera Queensland ca. 1897. State Library of QLD.

This film aims to demonstrate the enduring spirit of humanity to survive in the face of extreme adversity.

Blackbird will be shot entirely on location in Mackay where the history that this story is based on, took place - bringing the story of Australia’s Sugar Slaves to life. Spoken in traditional Solomon Islands languages and Pijin English, with elements of Islander culture set against the backdrop of expansive tropical cane fields, this film immerses audiences in a little known part Australian history.


Source: State Library of QLD

One of the main reasons this film will be made is to honour the approximately 60,000 Pacific Islanders who were brought to Australia between 1863 and 1904. Three of those Pacific Islanders were my ancestors who were never seen or heard from again. So the film I'm making is a personal one, but it's also about a history that we all share.


"Ship load of South Sea Islanders arriving in Queensland". Source: State Library of Queensland.


South Sea Islander Camp in Queensland. Source: State Library of Qld.

The film will be made using a small crew of professional filmmakers and students, and also with the help of Australian South Sea Islander and Pacific Islander communities who will help out with crewing roles and being the stars of this project. We hope that the spirit and energy, and the fun of working with communities will shine through the telling of this story!

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We aim to make this story as rich and real as possible, and to reflect the era where the story takes place - Queensland in the 1870s. Blackbird will be shot from the 20th to the 28th of July on location in Mackay. Writer/ Director Amie Batalibasi will put her own funds into the film and most people working on the project will be volunteers. Due to the scale of this project we need a little assistance to pull it off.

Donations for this film project will be used to make this film happen:
• create period-authentic costumes,
• sets and props (we'll be building some traditional Island style huts!)
• equipment hire & fees for specialist peeps that we need to get on board
• help us feed and house a big team for a week (a well fed cast and crew with a good night's sleep is a HAPPY one!)
• getting a small and nimble cast and crew into, on and around the Mackay, QLD locations.

We literally can't make this film without you so we welcome you to join us - share in the journey and the experience. Any small help is greatly appreciated and will go a long way. Help us share this story for which we so passionately want to tell!