A LOCAL film maker is all set to have his documentaries shown at a number of international film festivals.
Film maker Adrian Strong is delighted to have his documentary, ‘‘Bitter Roots: the ends of a Kalahari Myth’ air at the Nordic Anthropological Film Association International Film Festival, at St Andrew’s University in Scotland and in October at the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival in Taipei. Former entrepreneur Adrian first picked up a camera in 2005 and just six years later, his work is being shown internationally.
The documentary follows Adrian on his return to the Kalahari desert in Africa, where he worked with the Ju/’hoansi tribe in the 1980s.
Adrian said, “To have your film shown in so many places is fantastic. I shot this video in 2007 as part of my PhD thesis, which was based around the representation of indigenous people through film.
“I worked in the Kalahari for a grass roots foundation that fought for tribesmen to keep the land where they lived. John Marshall, who started the grass roots foundation, was putting together a film about the tribe over a 50 year period.
“I returned to the Kalahari to put together this documentary, two years after John died. It focuses on the erosion of community-led development and how the tribe are no longer relying on farming, but tourism and wildlife conservation to support themselves.”
Not only a dab hand at filming, Adrian also produces and edits film. He recently worked on an Australian documentary detailing leprosarium for indigenous people on an island in far north Queensland.
The documentary, ‘Fantome Island’ will air the Brisbane International Film Festival in November.
Adrian said, “This film is about leprosy and how the indigenous were segregated.
“We entered the film for consideration at the festival and I am over the moon that it was accepted to be aired.
“My hope is to pick up an award here!
“My inspiration for such films is the desire to build bridges across cultures and highlight these events in Australian history.”
If you are interested in Adrian’s work, you can preview Bitter Roots at this address; http://www.der.org/films/bitter-roots.html