NITV: National Reconciliation Week 2018

NITV will be honouring National Reconciliation Week (NRW) and its 2018 theme, ‘Don’t Keep History a Mystery: Learn. Share. Grow’ from 27 May – 3 June,.

Dedicated programming will commemorate two significant milestones in Australia’s reconciliation journey, the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision.

NITV Channel Manager, Tanya Orman said: “For National Reconciliation Week in 2018, NITV will be showcasing a dedicated program offering, welcoming viewers to come and listen to our stories, learn about our history and be immersed in our culture.

“The channel will also be getting out amongst National Reconciliation Week events, collecting stories and doing live crosses as NITV News hits the road.”

The Point
Thursday 24 May at 8.30pm
NITV’s flagship news and current affairs program, The Point, marks the first anniversary since the Uluru Statement and examines what a truth telling commission might look like in Australia. The show also looks at the impact the Turnbull Government’s rejection of the Uluru Statement has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and looks ahead to National Reconciliation Week.

Mabo: Life of an Island Man
Sunday 27 May at 8.30pm
Mabo: Life of an Island Man is an award-winning documentary about the private and public stories of a man so passionate about family and home that he fought an entire nation and its legal system for it. Although Eddie Mabo passed away before his greatest victory was won, it has forever ensured his place – on Murray Island and in Australian history.

My Survival as an Aboriginal
Sunday 27 May at 10pm
My Survival as an Aboriginal follows Essie Coffey, a black activist and musician and is the first documentary directed by an Indigenous woman. The film shows the conflicts of living as an Aboriginal under white domination.

My Life as I Live it
Sunday 27 May at 11pm
The 1993 film, My Life as I Live It is an update of the 1978 film, ‘My Survival as an Aboriginal” and shows how life has changed for the Aboriginal community of Brewarrina in far north-west NSW.

Case 442
Monday 28 May at 7.30pm
Case 442 is an intimate journey that follows Frank Byrne’s painful struggle after being forcibly removed from his mother Maudie, his 60 year search for her and the final laying to rest of his beloved mother. An emotionally moving story that portrays an unbreakable mother-son bond and illustrates how Native Affairs child removal policies left Australians like Frank with a broken heart.

Servant or Slave
Monday 28 May at 8.30pm
Bringing to light the heartbreaking experiences of the Wenberg sisters Adelaide, Valerie (Linow) and Rita, Servant or Slave celebrates their fortitude by pursuing justice for the crimes committed against them. Their firsthand accounts of officially sanctioned enslavement reveal the true intent of the government policy of ‘protection’ prevalent through the twentieth century. Theirs is a David and Goliath battle waged not only for personal healing, but to shed light on a barely acknowledged part of a modern Australia’s history whose consequences are still felt today.

Marngrook Footy Show
Wednesday 30 May at 7.30pm
Bringing more footy to your Wednesdays, the Marngrook Footy Show will move to an earlier timeslot from NRW. This marks the premiere of special AFL documentary series Nyoongar Footy Magic which will serve up episodes directly after Marngrook’s exciting new time. The Marngrook Footy Show episode this week will recognise and celebrate the Indigenous players in the game, to honour the AFL’s annual Sir Doug Nicholls round.

Nyoongar Footy Magic
Wednesday 30 May at 9pm
New NITV commissioned television documentary series, Nyoongar Footy Magic is four half-hour stories profiling the lives and careers of five game-changing Western Australian Nyoongar Aussie Rules champions, presented by Ernie Dingo.

Nyoongar Footy Magic profiles Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer, Barry Cable, Jim and Phil Krakouer and Nicky Winmar and relays their stories of triumph. Following colonisation of their traditional homelands in South Western Australia, and by overcoming the terrible hardship that ensued, the Nyoongar people mastered Australian Rules football and used it as a way to pioneer bold new futures in the face of adversity in a changed world.

The Nyoongar People are the traditional owners of their land, Nyoongar Boodja, in the southwest of Western Australia. For over half a century they have had prominent starring players in the state and national AFL leagues. It is a world standard athletic achievement which has energised the sport while bringing national recognition and pride to their people; Nyoongar Footy Magic tells their story.

In the last sixty years, the small Indigenous nation of Nyoongar has provided many of the greatest AFL football stars. The Nyoongar athletes are known for their skill and lightning-fast reflexes. It became a passion for generations trapped in missions, homes and on reserves ready to kick beyond the confines of marginal life and unite the nation through their inspirational passion, power and talent.

Nyoongar Footy Magic is a Bardwell Media and Beyond West co-production, directed by Kelli Cross and Karla Hart and created in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest, Australian Football League and National Indigenous Television.

Carry the Flag
Friday 1 June at 8.30pm
Carry the Flag is a rich and powerful story of a man whose design created meaning for a nation of people once invisible to the mainland of Australia. The film celebrates the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Torres Strait Islander Flag, and journeys to the Straits with Bala B to uncover and honour the life and times of his late father – Bernard Namok Senior, the flag’s creator.

The Long Walk
Friday 1 June at 9pm
The documentary, The Long Walk reflects on Essendon AFL great Michael Long’s life, his stand against racism, his role pioneering the AFL’s racial discrimination code and the historic moment when he famously walked to Canberra to meet with then Prime Minister, John Howard. His 2004 walk, from Melbourne to Canberra aimed to put the lives of Indigenous Australians back on the national agenda.

After Mabo
Sunday 3 June at 8.30pm
After Mabo dispels many of the myths about native title and exposes the political and economic agenda behind John Howard’s ‘Ten Point Plan’. The film goes behind the doors as Indigenous representatives attempt to fight the amendments in the media, in the bush and in the halls of Parliament House, Canberra. Respected Indigenous figures Noel Pearson, Peter Yu, Pat Dodson and filmmaker Richard Frankland, speak first-hand about land justice and the threat that the proposed Howard Amendments had to their land and their rights.