Zach's Ceremony Explained

Zach's Ceremony
Director:Aaron Petersen
Released: Canada, (Hot Docs International Documentary Festival)Australia, (Sydney Film Festival), Australia, (Melbourne International Film Festival)
Starring:Zac Doomadgee, Alec Doomadgee
Language:English
Country:Australia

Zach's Ceremony is an Australian coming of age documentary film. It looks at the transition to adulthood from an indigenous cultural perspective. It features Zach Doomadgee and his father Alec Doomadgee.

About the film

The film looks at what it means to be an indigenous Australian and Zach Doomadgee's cultural journey. Zach who is of indigenous and Caucasian descent is influenced by two cultures.[1] It also looks at how Zach is affected by being one of the few Indigenous children at his Sydney school, being too dark. It also looks at his being too light-skinned when he visits his father's community in far-north Queensland.[2]

Alec Doomadgee played a major part in the film in both direction and production.[3] The film was shown at New York's Margaret Mead Film Festival.[4]

The film was begun in 2009 when Zach was aged around 10.[5]

Theater screenings

It was announced by FilmInk that the documentary would open across Australia from Thursday 30 March 2016, and screen at Cinema Nova in Carlton, Victoria.[6]

Awards

At the Byron Bay Film Festival, Zach's Ceremony along with Brendan Shoebridge's film, The Bentley Effect took the top awards. Alec Doomadgee was also winner of the Festival's Best Documentary Award.[7] It also won Best documentary awards at both the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. The Guardian, Tue 28 Mar 2017 - Zach's Ceremony review – an affecting portrait of growing up Indigenous in two worlds
  2. [sbs.com.au|SBS]
  3. The Brisbane Times, DECEMBER 18, 2021 - Big trouble on a small Queensland hill by Zach Hope
  4. [ABC Australia|ABC]
  5. The Sydney Morning Herald, March 28, 2017 - Zach's Ceremony review: A flawed but unguarded glimpse of secret men's business By Jake Wilson
  6. FilmInk - Zach's Ceremony to open at Cinema Nova
  7. [Byron Bay Film Festival]
  8. FilmInk - Zach's Ceremony to open at Cinema Nova