Deschutes Public Library

Our Brother James

eng

videorecording

Our Brother James

945762931

Originally produced by National Film and Sound Archive of Australia in 2001

52

Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. The suicide rate in men under twenty-five has tripled in the last thirty years, and young men in rural and remote communities are particularly vulnerable. This reality has disturbing implications for society. When it affects you directly, it's shattering. In 1996 James Dalmann killed himself. He was found dead in the bathroom of his housing commission unit in Geraldton, Western Australia. James was only twenty. In this very personal film, director Jessica Douglas-Henry returns to Geraldton with her sister Alix to document the impact of their brother' s death. Alix was the person closest to James. She was seventeen when he died and was left with the responsibility of identifying his body. In the three years that followed, five other friends died by suicide. Her way of coming to terms with the loss has been to get on with her own life and to try to make a difference for other young people by doing voluntary work for a suicide prevention organisation. Although this film is about James, it's really Alix's story. It's about the people left behind, whose lives have been changed forever by the suicide of someone they loved. Alix still doesn' t sleep at night. She feels guilty about the warning signs she missed, about what she did and didn't do. Yet she doesn' t want to let go of her sadness - it's all she has left of James. Retelling the story is one way to reconcile what has happened. It's a difficult but necessary journey, and in the end, a life-affirming one. Although Our Brother James focuses on a personal tragedy, it is ultimately a film about survival and growth, about love, strength and hope for the future. A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Iris Pictures Pty Ltd. Developed with the assistance of the New South Wales Film and Television Office and the Australian Film Commission. Produced in association with SBS Independent. Copyright - 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

live action