Free First Thursday: Stars We Do Not See

Overview

Join us during October’s Free First Thursday for a special free film program presented in conjunction with The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art. The screenings celebrate film and video work by and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, offering another way to explore the stories, histories, and perspectives at the heart of The Stars We Do Not See.

Film schedule

2 p.m.  BeDevil (1993)
Directed by Tracey Moffatt | Runtime: 90 mins

The first feature film directed by an Australian Aboriginal woman, Tracey Moffat’s debut feature BeDevil was inspired by ghost stories she heard as a child from her extended Aboriginal and Irish Australian family. Moffatt constructs a trilogy in which characters are haunted by the past and bewitched by memories, with all three stories set in her highly stylized, hyper-real, and hyper-imaginary Australian landscape. In the first story Mister Chuck, a young boy is fascinated and terrified by a swamp that is haunted by the ghost of an American GI. Choo Choo Choo Choo finds a family living by railroad tracks haunted by strange happenings. The mother, played by Moffatt, is drawn to the tracks at night as she senses the horror of a past tragedy. The final story, Lovin’ the Spin I’m In, follows a woman who resists eviction attempts by her landlord so she can keep vigil for her dead son. (NGV)

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5 p.m. The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (2021)
Directed by Leah Purcell | Runtime: 109 mins

Written by, directed by, and starring Leah Purcell (Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka), this searing revisionist Western reimagines a classic piece of colonial literature. In 1893 on an isolated property, a heavily pregnant woman named Molly Johnson (Leah Purcell) and her children struggle to survive the harsh Australian landscape; her husband is gone, droving sheep in the high country. Molly then finds herself confronted by a shackled Aboriginal fugitive named Yadaka (Rob Collins). As an unlikely bond begins to form between them, secrets unravel about her true identity. Meanwhile, realizing Molly’s husband is missing, new town lawman Nate Clintoff becomes suspicious and sends his constable to investigate. The deadly encounter between Molly, Yadaka and the constable results in a tragic chain of events with Molly becoming a symbol of feminism and anti-racism. (Rotten Tomatoes)

Free admission all day. Come see The Stars We Do Not See, experience the films, and spend a day exploring the art and stories of Indigenous Australia.

Related events

Tickets

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door. Tickets to Free First Thursday programs at the Tomorrow Theater are available online.

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.