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CARRY THE FLAG

Year: 2017

Classification: G

Runtime: 29 min

Produced In: Australia

Directed By: Danielle MacLean

Produced By: Anna Grieve

Language: English

price includes GST and postage

AVAILABLE NOW as a digital file for home viewing or education use, or for screenings. DVDs will be available in early October (you can pre-order now).

For Bernard Namok Jnr, ('Bala B,') the Torres Strait Flag is a poignant reminder of home, family and the father he hardly knew. Bernard Namok Senior won the flag design competition in 1992 but a year later, at just 31 years, he died leaving behind his wife with four young children.

CARRY THE FLAG journeys across the Torres Straits with Bernard Namok Jnr to honour his father's legacy. It is a rich and powerful story of a man whose design created meaning for a people once invisible to people of mainland Australia, the people of the Torres Strait.

VIEW TRAILER HERE: vimeo.com/1229434735

Bernard Namok Jnr, is a Senior Broadcaster and presenter of 'Mornings with Bala B' at The Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association – TEABBA. Everyday he speaks to thousands of Indigenous Australians across the Northern Territory but he feels disconnected from his own culture and family. When he sees the Torres Strait Islands flag flying, it is for him, not only the symbol of identity of his people, but a poignant reminder of his home and the father he hardly knew.

Bernard Namok Senior won the Torres Strait Islander flag design competition in 1992 but a year after his flag was formally recognised, at 31 years of age, he died leaving behind a wife and four young children. Bernard Namok Jnr was just ten at the time but as the oldest in the family, the role of carrying the flag came early to him. He only has a few cherished childhood memories of his Dad, sitting up late night after night doing sketches of the flag that he and his sister were not to touch.

Bernard Namok Jnr journeys back home to the Torres Strait to seek out those in his family and community who can shed light on his father and the meaning stitched into the design of his father's flag. Bernard Namok Jnr talks to members of Torres Strait Island Flag Anniversary Committee to discover why it was so important for Torres Strait to have their own flag. One of the judges, Romina Fujii, describes how their purpose was to capture for her people, the same passion and hugely successful outcome achieved by the black, red and yellow flag for uniting and empowering Aboriginal Australians.

We learn of the important influencers on Bernard's flag design including that of celebrated leader and Torres Strait referendum activist, Ettie Pau. Bernard Namok Jnr's mother, Bakoi Namok recalls conversations with her father Ettie and her husband about Torres Strait identity. Both men vehemently believed there was no point fighting for a better lot for their people until they had a flag, which would give Torres Strait Islanders a shared identity.

The Torres Strait Islander flag was officially recognised and presented to the Torres Strait Island people on the 29th May 1992 at the 6th annual Torres Strait Cultural Festival on Thursday Island. It was just in time for one of the most significant events of Torres Strait Islander and Australian history, the Mabo decision (June 3 1992). The flag was the perfect symbol to celebrate this historic event.

This is an intimate, observational film that reveals much about a period of dynamic change in the lives of Torres Strait Islander people. At its heart is the journey of a son in search of the father he hardly knew, but a man who left a legacy that is the most powerful symbol of identity and aspiration to all Torres Strait Islanders.

For information about a book by Bernard Namok Jnr, see:
www.magabala.com/products/our-flag-our-story-the-torres-strait-islander-flag

Bernard Namok Jnr - Presenter, Co-writer and Co-producer
Danielle MacLean - Director , Co-writer and Co-producer
Anna Grieve - Producer
Will Kepa - Composer
Dylan River – Cinematographer
Sam Frederick - Editor
Produced by Tamarind Tree Pictures

Developed with the assistance of Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association.
Produced with the assistance of Screen Queensland, Queensland Government.
Developed and Produced with Screen Territory, Northern Territory Government.
Developed and produced in association with NITV (National Indigenous Television).
Principal Funding from Australian Government, Screen Australia.

© Tamarind Tree Pictures 2017

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