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40 NOVEMBER 2016
DVD&BD
FEATURE
Having travelled the Mystery Road, indigenous detective Jay Swan
returns in Ivan Sen's new outback thriller Goldstone. Words: Scott Hocking
F ollowing his acclaimed feature debut
Beneath Clouds in 2002, indigenous
filmmaker Ivan Sen's work continues to
provide audiences with a unique insight into his
people's culture and issues.
Mystery Road (2013) introduced us to
indigenous detective Jay Swan, played by
Aaron Pedersen, and blended a genre element
with Sen’s signature themes.
Jay Swan returns in Sen’s latest film,
the outback thriller Goldstone, in which
the conflicted cop encounters corruption
and human trafficking in a remote mining
community.
“We purposely wanted to do something
different with Goldstone ,” says Sen. “It’s
not only a different story, it’s a different
headspace for the character of Jay Swan.
Characters evolve and change because of
their circumstances, and being an indigenous
person, you get caught up in your environment.
A lot of things that Jay Swan was trying to
improve in Mystery Road actually manifest
themselves inside him in Goldstone, and so
he’s much more dysfunctional.”
Both Sen and Pedersen were eager to
revisit the character, believing he had a
great deal more to offer. “He
can be placed in different
environments, and as a black
policeman, conflict will follow
him no matter where he goes
– both personal and political
conflict,” explains Sen.
“There’s a lot of Jay Swan
in Aaron, and there’s a lot of
him in me,” he continues. “He’s
very much a boundary walker;
that’s what Aaron and I have
done in our own lives since
leaving our communities for the
broader world to try and get our
people’s voices heard and more
understanding from the white public.”
Goldstone is a topical film, raising issues
involving human trafficking, racial tensions
and the mining industry. But Sen notes that
the central theme of the film is the idea of
what happens to the truth when different
worlds collide, as viewed from an indigenous
perspective.
Moreover, the insular community of a
fly-in-fly-out mining operation provided a
fascinating and morally suspect milieu. “It’s
a world we don’t often see, apart from a few
documentaries,” notes Sen. “In a dramatic
context, there’s not many films that actually
challenge the ethics of mining in this country.
It’s always presented in a positive light.”
National treasure David Gulpilil has an
important supporting role in the film, serving
as a conduit between Swan and his culture,
and Sen hopes that the ambience of this
connection will resonate with both white and
indigenous audiences. He adds that Gulpilil
felt a personal connection with the events
depicted in Goldstone.
“[David] was very passionate about this
story because he had had a lot of interaction
with mining companies in his home country of
Arnhem Land. He knows how the land council
can be corrupted.”
Although Sen has four Australian features to
his credit which intimately explore indigenous
themes, he believes we are yet to see a truly
accurate depiction on the screen.
“We’re at an early stage in telling our own
stories, and learning the craft in an environment
where we’re forced to come up with more
conventional approaches to telling stories,” he
says. “I think there’s an honesty we haven’t
touched on yet, including in my own films. But I
think in the future, as we get more comfortable
with the filmmaking process, we’ll make films
that really stand up on the international stage
and have an impact, and be more truthful to
ourselves.”
A one man crew
Ivan Sen's films are unique
in Australian cinema. The
filmmaker has a distinctive style
and to ensure that it translates
precisely to the screen, he
frequently multi-tasks as
director, writer, DOP, editor and
composer.
"I've worked with crews but
I have never got what I really
wanted," he explains. "It's easier
for me to get the brush on the
palette and the canvas myself.
"I've just made a film in the
last few weeks – it was just me.
I call it a solo film, where I go
and make it totally by myself,
which I've done before with a
film called Toomelah (2011).
"There could be a time where
the budgets
are big
enough to work
with and have
incredible people
who are not only doing what
your vision is, but more than
that. That could happen in the
future, but for now I'm happy to
do it my way."
• Goldstone
is out now
Aaron Pedersen and Alex Russell