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Based on Richard Frankland's experiences as a field officer for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, No Way to Forget follows one of his many car journeys between cities for the hearings. It also marks his own spiritual and emotional journey, in which he attempts to deal with the pain of the knowledge he bears.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Films at St Kilda
2016
single work
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 18 May no. 626 2016; (p. 35) 'Indigenous short film will be showcased at St Kilda Film Festival with films from Indigenous directors Tracy Moffatt, Warwick Thornton and Richard Franklin selected for the festival's Short Black program. ...' -
'And in My Dreaming I Can Let Go of the Spirits of the Past' : Gothicizing the Common Law in Richard Franklin's No Way to Forget
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Decolonizing the Landscape : Indigenous Cultures in Australia 2014; (p. 255-274)'In this essay I will discuss how Richard Frankland's award-winning short film No Way to Forget (1996) approaches the topic of Aboriginal deaths in custody in gothic terms. As I will show, Frankland reverses gothic dichotomies, employs tropes of haunting and trauma, and ultimately exposes the fictional quality of the gothic itself in his representations of the Australian common law and its institutions. Through an appropriation and transformation of both this originally European mode and the English legal tradition, he thus creates his very own version of an Indigenous gothic. By asserting the cultural strength of that vast body of knowledge summarized as "Dreaming/Law/ Lore,” Frankland reclaims Aboriginal identity and subverts what he and others have described as the de-humanizing quality of the law in civic and spiritual terms? I will therefore first outline the benefits that the field of law and literature offers for questioning the factual discourse of law through the study of fiction before I turn to the dangers the use of the gothic mode holds for Aboriginal appropriations. The opportunities filmmaking offers for re-claiming Koori culture and identity will conclude my theoretical outline. I will also draw on the doctrine of reception and the legal foundations of the Australian common-law tradition in order to introduce my following analysis of Frankland's No Way to Forget. This analysis will be supplemented by readings of Frankland's 2002 play Conversations with the Dead, according to the author "a much heavier and harder version of 'No Way to Forget'".
Source: p.256.
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Richard Frankland
2007
single work
non-fiction
— Appears in: Dreaming in Motion : Celebrating Australia's Indigenous Filmmakers 2007; (p. 33-35) Contains Richard Frankland's short film biography, his filmography, details on the films: Harry's War and No Way to Forget, and a small commentary by Frankland on filmmaking. -
Short Film Keeps Winning
1998
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 25 February no. 170 1998; (p. 24) -
Film in the Running for Awards
1996
single work
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 28 August no. 133 1996; (p. 15)
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Richard Frankland
2007
single work
non-fiction
— Appears in: Dreaming in Motion : Celebrating Australia's Indigenous Filmmakers 2007; (p. 33-35) Contains Richard Frankland's short film biography, his filmography, details on the films: Harry's War and No Way to Forget, and a small commentary by Frankland on filmmaking. -
Indigenous Film Makers will Show Their Stuff
1996
single work
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 13 March no. 121 1996; (p. 3) -
Cannes Screening for No Way To Forget
1996
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 8 May no. 125 1996; (p. 10) -
Film in the Running for Awards
1996
single work
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 28 August no. 133 1996; (p. 15) -
AFI Awards Success for Frankland's Film
1996
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— Appears in: Koori Mail , 4 December no. 140 1996; (p. 14)