Racism In Barbekueria

The Film, “One night the moon” by Rachel Perkins and the documentary, “Barbekueria” by Don Featherstone are very similar in the way they portrayed racism during the early developments of Australia. Through different Camera techniques and imagery both Featherstone and Perkins are able to project the ideals of the White Australian Policy into a Film/Documentary. The used of different Camera angles (by both producers) are seen in the film to speak for the insignificance of one race compared to the other. “One night the Moon” used different colour patterns and camera techniques to represent innocence and superiority among the races. “Barbekueria” generally used a more subtle approach when it comes to portraying racism. The Documentary “Barbekueria” …show more content…
Although the roles and races are switched in the documentary, the documentary showed and represented the horrors of having people take over your country through invasion. At the beginning of “Barbekueria”, the Aboriginal settlers are seen invading the country. The conversation between the leader of the Aboriginals and the Australian, gave off a sense of superiority to the Aboriginal. This is shown through the low angle shot on the Aboriginal leader given during the conversation. The Australians in the scene are shot through a high angle shot to show the inferiority of the group. The same angles can be applied in “One night the moon”. During the conversation between the police officers and Jim Ryan, the angle used on Jim Ryan is a low angle. When the camera switched to Albert Yang, the camera remained at a low angle. This means that although Jim may be superior, Albert is the best at what he does (tracking). The low angle on Albert shows his knowledge of the Land in comparison to the low angle that is given to Jim serves his authority. Both of the characters in “One night the moon” are superior in a field, therefore keeping their camera angles at a certain height throughout the story. As the story progresses Albert is seen cutting wood just before he goes out to find Jim’s daughter. The very low angle placed on Albert during the scene symbolised the importance of his role in the story. As Albert searched through the night, Jim is seen in the kitchen drinking. A high angle is then placed on Jim to represent the current conundrum he has placed himself in. The camera techniques that were used in both “One night the moon” and “Barbekueria” both represented inferiority and superiority. Both of the films both had evidence of the White Australia