Edoardo Crismani’s short film Barbara’s World competed in the Indigenous Peoples Short Film Competition, which wrapped up on December 2nd. The film, a short documentary, is comprised of an interview with an Aboriginal woman as she details her history and her family’s history with adversity as Aboriginal people. The aim of the film is to help dissolve the lines between Aboriginal and Non-aboriginal people in Australia.
We spoke to Edoardo about this project and his career as a filmmaker.
Who are you and what’s your filmmaking background?
I grew up in Coober Pedy, an opal-mining town in the outback of South Australia. After several years working and traveling, in July 2009, I enrolled in University studies. I graduated with a Bachelor of Media Arts degree from the University of South Australia in August 2012. I majored in Film and TV production and minored in Creative Writing, and achieved a High Distinction average in my degree.
As a student filmmaker in 2011, I wrote and directed a 3-minute short film inspired by a true story of an Aboriginal woman waiting for a job interview and the mental anguish she experiences after being advised not to tell the interviewer she is Aboriginal. The resulting film, Just Be Yourself was selected for broadcast on nationwide on National Indigenous TV. You can view that film here.
I wrote, directed and edited a short documentary Barbara’s World about my mother’s story that was broadcast nationwide on Australia’s National Indigenous TV in 2014.
I recently completed filming Point Pearce to Paris about a strong Aboriginal woman whose mother was from Point Pearce Aboriginal mission and her father was French.
I am also a member of the South Australian Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Writers Group. As a published poet, writer, musician and filmmaker, I was awarded Writer in Residence (Emerging Artist) at the South Australian Writers Centre 2013.
What are you working on right now?
I am currently working on developing a documentary feature on my grandfather, an Aboriginal man of the stolen generation who became boxing champion of South Australia in 1926. as well as a slate of other projects dealing with contemporary life as a descendant of Aboriginal and migrant lineage.
What do you want the audience to take away from your films?
I would hope that I bring to light part of Australia’s history that shows the strength, resilience and intelligence of Aboriginal people in overcoming massive obstacles to survive and can draw in the audience to go on the journey and in the process come away with a greater understanding of Aboriginal people in Australia history and a perhaps a stronger sense of empathy for Aboriginal Australians today.
What’s your favorite story from film making?
That it is possible to bring to life stories in film that you had previously heard and been moved when hearing them.
What are your wildest dreams for your film making career?
Fully sustainable in all aspects as a writer and director of film and TV.
What is something bizarre about you?
For a break from the concentration and passion of my writing and filmmaking, I paint abstracts while listening to classical music.
What currently inspires you?
That it is possible to bring to life stories in film that you had previously heard and been moved when hearing them.
What’s your best advice for an aspiring filmmaker?
Passion.
