Free Screenings of John Pilger’s Utopia

Overview

John Pilger's steadfast commitment to Indigenous affairs over the past 30 years has won him international recognition as an investigative journalist and filmmaker. Passionate about communicating the plight of Aboriginal Australians and rallying for change, he returns with new documentary Utopia, which he describes as "one of the most urgent films I have made".

Utopia takes its name from the vast region in Northern Australia that is home to the oldest continuous human culture. The film traces the theft of a continent and the subsequent atrocities of the colonial regime. Extreme poverty, death in police custody and concentration camps are just some of the atrocities highlighted. In presenting two clashing portraits of Australia — one of Gold Coast resorts and mining wealth, the other of abject poverty in rural Aboriginal communities — Pilger is out to expose Australia's own secret apartheid, a 'lucky country' stained by human rights violations.

With the desperate state of Indigenous affairs, this important film promises an enlightening and moving experience. To get the film seen and spread, there will be a free, open-air screening on Friday, January 17 at The Block in Redfern, a site loaded with Indigenous significance. A series of public screenings will also take place at the MCA, concluding with a special event on Australia Day, otherwise known as 'Invasion Day'.