The Change at Groote
When vast manganese deposits were discovered on the Aboriginal Reserve of Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, BHP moved in. The simple residents had no choice but to adjust. And a complete cultural revolution took place in less than a generation. This film is a study of the change by means of a fragmented collage of images and sounds intended to produce a direct emotional response. The jumbled values of the Aboriginals, who are seen at work in the mines, at school, in church, and on the reserves, are suggested by a daring experimental alternation of sound and picture relationships.