FIFO 2025. Rachel Perkins is an Australian Aboriginal filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter for both film and television. This year, she is a member of the festival jury. A strong woman, she is passionate about telling the true history of her country. With 30 years of experience in the audiovisual industry, she aims to pass the torch to the new generation and open the doors of a film school in Australia to Polynesians.
Rachel Perkins is proudly Aboriginal Australian, and she boldly asserts this identity. A woman of strong character with a soothing voice, she is a pioneer for Indigenous memory and culture. Influenced by her activist father, a bureaucrat fighting for Aboriginal rights, she has dedicated the last 30 years to “breaking invisible barriers.” “As a woman, as an Aboriginal person, I tried to break stereotypes and surpass the expectations that were placed on me. When I started making films, there were only two films made by Aboriginal people. I was 18 then, and I am 55 now,” recalls the filmmaker.
Curious to learn more about her culture and supported by a scholarship, she joined a film production course. That’s when things clicked for her. “The woman in charge of our training was very powerful and matriarchal. She told us why we had been given the opportunity to follow this program. She said that we should be the voice through which our people could speak,” she explains. With wisdom, she adds: “We are a minority in our country. Aboriginal people make up only 3.5% of the population. We’ve been so oppressed, so we use films to help people understand our struggles but also in a quest for justice. This is what guides and motivates me today. Cinema only succeeds when it emotionally and affectively moves people, when we have a message to convey. We have to succeed in our film, or else we won’t get what we want: justice and understanding.”
As a screenwriter, director, and producer, Rachel has been behind numerous award-winning productions. Today, she inspires the younger generation, who see her as a mentor. Rachel has always worked through her lens—the lens of Indigenous peoples—to tell the true history of her country.
Her work is focused on exposing historical truths and helping her people and the nation better understand their history in order to reconcile with the past, particularly the colonial past and its aftermath. “I believe that to heal from trauma, we must tell the truth and be able to hear it. Having this knowledge and recognition allows us to move toward healing,” Rachel explains with much reflection.
To raise awareness among both Australians and Aboriginal people, the activist launched an educational program. “My films, the series I made a few years ago, are educational videos that sell the most in Australia, far outpacing others. They are used in schools, and thousands of students watch them and are able to see their country in a different light, with a broader truth,” the fifty-year-old rejoices. Her videos showcase Australia’s “true history,” a history that is not mentioned in school textbooks.
To achieve this journey, she cites her sources of inspiration from the past: Merata Mita, a Māori Indigenous filmmaker and a pioneering figure in Māori cinema, and Spike Lee, a screenwriter and director focused on the Afro-American community and social and identity issues faced by minorities.
Passing of the torch
After 30 years in the industry, Rachel continues to work tirelessly. This duty of transmission is something she now wishes to share with the Polynesians.
“We created a school, a space for Aboriginal people, and it is probably the best film school in Oceania. I realized coming here that we could do more. That’s why I would like to bring Polynesian students so they can study film at this school.
I spoke with the president of the country, Moetai Brotherson. He supports this idea and thinks it is excellent. He gave his blessing for me to talk to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to create opportunities in this direction so they can receive the best possible education,” she reveals.
While she waits to return home to try to integrate Polynesians into the structure, her visit to French Polynesia has deeply moved her. “I learned so much. Watching the films and meeting the filmmakers and organizers reminded me how important our work is. Some of the films presented really touched me personally and inspired me. I haven’t made a film in two or three years. It’s the longest break I’ve taken in 30 years. And now, it opened my eyes. Maybe it’s time for me to get back to work. I thought about quitting, but the festival really had an impact on me,” Rachel confides.
With new projects in mind, passing on the torch remains her driving force, and she explains: “At the FIFO, there’s a film about Pacific women and Polynesian women that reminded me of the importance, when you get to my age, of making space for young people, especially young women.”
Jenny Hunter & Vaikehu Shan
French