Since the passing of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement has picked up substantial traction, not only in the States but here in Australia too. Over the weekend, thousands of Australians gathered in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and towns around the country, to protest for racial equality for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
We spoke about how you can help the Black Lives Matter movement from your own home on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
With the number of deaths rising to 437 since the 1991 royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, Australians have showed that they want change and they want it now. Much of the discussion around the Black Lives Matter revolves around solutions and what change can look like. Well, the documentary-film Our Law gives us our first glimmer of hope for the future of Australia’s Police system.
Directed by Cornel Ozies, the documentary Our Law follows the lives of two outback police officers working in Australia’s only entirely-Indigenous police station. The film is set in Warakurna, a town located 330km west of Uluru and follows Sergeant Wendy Kelly and Sergeant Revis Ryder as they take the time to learn the language of Ngaanyatjarra to communicate better with the locals. Watch the trailer here.
In our chat with Cornel Ozies, we unpacked why this film was so important. He said, “There’s a hangover from past traumas, that hasn’t been dealt with, and it comes to the surface when interacting with police. The mistrust is a real thing.”
He continued, “Given the political history, the historical context of how the police force, in general, have enforced policies and laws that have basically traumatised Aboriginal people… that is kind of where the mistrust comes from.” Despite his brother being a police officer and his stepmother also being one, Cornel Ozies still finds it difficult to trust the police, “It’s not the officers, it’s the institution that I don’t trust.”
Ultimately, there couldn’t be a more fitting time to release such a film as right now. When we asked Taryne Laffar about how she felt about releasing this film amidst the Black Lives Matter context, she said, “Really, I’m hoping to keep this conversation open, and to keep talking about the issues.” In terms of the Our Law itself, Taryne Laffar added: “Hopefully, this (film) can be used as a tool for the WA police that arent Aboriginal to help them understand a slightly different way of looking at things.”
“We know there’s a problem. Everyone’s talking about problems. No one’s talking about a solution. We’re presenting a solution.” – Cornel Ozies
Taryne Laffar added, “Now is the time for us to work hard to get this conversation going and to get action behind it. And to support our Aboriginal police officers because we know that there is institutionalised racism… Let’s deal with this once and for all. It’s time. Enough is enough.”
Listen to Taryne Laffar and Cornel Ozies open up about the film ‘Our Law’ a little more on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
You can watch ‘Our Law’ on NITV on Karla Grant Presents on Monday, June 22, at 8.30 pm, or purchase tickets to an early virtual screening with the Sydney Film Festival from June 10 to 21.
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