Deschutes Public Library

Confessions of a Headhunter

videorecording

Confessions of a Headhunter

921954378

Originally produced by Scarlett Pictures in 2000

31

This short drama speaks about the conflict between the Indigenous people of the Perth area and colonial culture.℗¡A drama about two Indigenous men - Frank (Bruce Hutchison) and Vinnie (Kelton Pell) - who seek revenge for the repeated beheading of the statue of their ancestor warrior Yagan. They℗¡are modern day head hunters who have been on an Australia-wide rampage, taking trophies from every state in a seemingly erratic way. But there is method in their madness. They don't just want any heads - they want famous heads, heads of value and heads that will stop the nation in its tracks. When the police finally capture 'The Dutchman' by default, we hear "℗Œ Confessions of a Headhunter. Based on the short story of the same name written by Archie Weller,℗¡Confessions of a Headhunter℗¡is a film that speaks about the conflict between Indigenous people or Noongar of the Perth area, and colonial culture. The symbolic violence that is the artefact of an actual war that took place - and as the film suggests - is still taking place, is represented here by the Indigenous characters, who retaliate to the disrespect shown to their ancestor warrior Yagan, an important part of Noongar heritage and℗¡culture. Yagan, a member of the Whadjuk Noongar people and believed to have been born around 1795, was a warrior who resisted the colonisation of Perth. The real Yagan's head was smoked and sent to England as a trophy, where it was on display in Liverpool until 1964 as an 'anthropological curiosity'. In 1993 Yagan's remains were repatriated, but remain unburied due to a disagreement between the Indigenous people of the Perth area over issues of proper℗¡burial. Weller was inspired to write the short story after the statue of Yagan itself was beheaded twice. Sally Riley and Archie Weller's adaptation won the script category of the 2001 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, and was the winner of the Cinema Nova Award and the 2000 Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Short Fiction Film.℗¡ Directed by Sally Riley. Produced by Kath Shelper. Screenplay: Sally Riley and Archie Weller

live action