Three disappearances, three murders, two worlds colliding… The Bowravville murders tells the stories of the families of these missing persons. The film also tells the story of the contempt with which the Australian police treat this tragic case, because it concerns the indigenous community. It also reveals a judicial system that is anything but fair to the victims because they are indigenous. This poignant documentary shows how racism and discrimination are still a reality in Australian society. Interview with the director, Alan Clarke.
The place is emblematic and draws its strength from its sumptuous banian. It is here that part of the FIFO takes place, it is here that directors and producers come to talk about the stories of Oceania. Under the paepae a Hiro from the House of Culture, the Inside the doc They offer an exchange between film-makers and festivalgoers. On Tuesday, Alan Clarke came to sit down to take the time to talk about his film. The Bowraville Murders. It’s 1990 in the country of Gumbayungi in Australia. In a few months, a young woman, a child, and an adolescent disappear. The families immediately set out to find these three young Aborigines. The police, on the other hand, take things more lightly. From the very beginning of the case, the authorities do not believe in the murder. Worse, they suspect the relatives of the missing children. The police do not send a criminal investigator but an agent of child protection. A man who will investigate within the families, who will go to see if there was any abuse or negligence towards the children. «It’s interesting because the story repeats itself. These child protection brigades have a different form today but they are derived from old government units that were responsible for taking away Aborigine children and placing them in religious or other institutions.» "We have the same mechanism here," explains the director, an investigative journalist specializing in Aboriginal issues.
An intergenerational struggle
In this film, the police’s negligence is exasperating, unbearable. Yet it is a reflection of the segregation in this city of Bowraville, where the indigenous community lives in isolation, where the world of whites and that of blacks do not coexist. In fact, that is the whole point of this documentary, the one of to show that racism is still very much present in Australian society. «I wanted to provide a context: explain why and how institutional racism exists both at the level of the police and the justice system, and how this racism has an impact on Aboriginal families.» If the police have not done their job, the justice system has also failed to deliver justice. The families have been fighting for nearly 30 years for the main suspect in these murders to be tried and then retried. The only way to achieve this is to change the legislation and the so-called «double incrimination» British law. Despite seven dismissals, including one from the highest court, the families have not given up the fight. It has even been passed down from generation to generation. Today, it is the parents« turn, and tomorrow it will be the children’s and grandchildren’s turn. ‘The new generation has taken on this fight. It has been imbued with this constant struggle. Initially, the parents did not want to pass on this burden, but it came naturally. »I think that it will never stop!", says the director, to whom he had to tell the story. five years to complete this film whose filming was particularly challenging and difficult. It should be noted that most of the sequences were filmed during the COVID crisis, with all the resulting restrictions. «We had a special COVID nurse to take care of the team, as well as psychiatrists for the families. Not to mention all the paperwork to be done to ensure compliance with health regulations.»
Facing reality
Complicated circumstances that did not affect the director’s determination. A native of the Aborigines, Alan Clarke knows how important it is to be true to oneself. It is still difficult today to talk about these stories.. It’s no coincidence that we always talk about the «great Australian silence». «It’s very difficult to involve the Australian public in a story like this. We don’t like to open that door to the past because if we do, we’ll never be able to close it again. But I wanted to be honest, I wanted to confront this reality. During the screenings, we received a lot of racist feedback.» In this vast territory that is Australia, many people are still cut off from indigenous stories, which are not being told and taught in schools. « Some people have never even met an Aboriginal person. But fortunately, the new generation is more open to this issue.», The director reassures us. He also reveals that one of the major financial donors to the film is a young Australian, who therefore believed in this story. A story essential to continue talking about this omnipresent racism and the injustice experienced by Aboriginal people. A story that, thanks to the film, plays a role in revealing the truth.
Article written by Sulianne Favennec
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