I, the Aboriginal
Directed byCecil Holmes
Produced byKip Porteous
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

I, the Aboriginal is an Australian book and television film about the life of Aboriginal Australian Phillip Roberts (or Waipuldanya).

The 1962 book, written in first person, is described as the autobiography of Waipuldanya, a full-blood Aboriginal man of the Alawa tribe at Roper River (Ngukurr) in the Northern Territory, as told to Douglas Lockwood. The book concerns Waipuldanya's traditional upbringing and his training to become a skilled medical assistant for the Department of Health at Darwin Hospital. Lockwood wrote the book from more than 100 hours of interview with Roberts.[1][2] I, the Aboriginal won the major literary award at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts in 1962.[3]

An ABC television film, in which Roberts played himself, was based on the book.[4][5] Directed by Cecil Holmes, the film won the Australian Film Institute's Gold Award in 1964.[6] Holmes' wife and indigenous advocate Sandra Le Brun Holmes contributed an account of the experience of their making I, the Aboriginal to Walkabout.[7]

References

  1. ^ "All about Australia". The Canberra Times. Vol. 46, no. 13, 049. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 February 1972. p. 12. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Remarkable Man Of Two Worlds". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 409. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 December 1962. p. 18. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Aboriginal Theme Winner". The Canberra Times. Vol. 36, no. 10, 176. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 March 1962. p. 3. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Aborigines to get royal welcome as Kenya's guests". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 020. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 December 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "I, the Aboriginal". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 31, no. 49. Australia. 6 May 1964. p. 14. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Praise for Australian film award winners". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 161. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 May 1965. p. 17. Retrieved 31 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Le Brun Holmes, Sandra (1 September 1963). "To the islands". Walkabout. 29 (9): 32–35.

External links


Films and television series about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
AACTA Award for Best Film
Categories