Australian-born crusader-journalist/documentarian John Pilger (co-directing here with Alan Lowery) turns a damning lens (as he has several times in the past) on his native country and its shameful treatment of the original Aborigine inhabitants, many of whom still dwell in shantytown squalor on the outskirts of fantastically beautiful and prosperous (white) resort communities. Pilger here lays a charge of harsh mistreatment, bordering on ethnic cleansing (Aborigines were imprisoned in far greater percentages than were South African natives during the Apartheid era). Moreover, says Pilger, the recent conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard waged a deliberate “history wars” campaign to methodically delete Aboriginal sufferings from the annals (one wishes Pilger had more proof of this particular accusation). Pilger's indictments culminate in a shocker that is unfamiliar to most American viewers: the 21st-century Australian military invasion of one the largest Aboriginal settlements, ostensibly to smash a child-sexual-abuse “crime wave” that turned out to be nonexistent. Not so coincidentally, mining corporations found themselves free to exploit sacred ancestral lands. A troubling, eye-opening condemnation of Australia's own particular version of Apartheid, Utopia is presented in a double-disc set, with extras including more than four hours of bonus interviews featuring indigenous activists and supporters, and a booklet. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Utopia
(2013) 2 discs. 112 min. DVD: $325. Secret Country Films (dist. by Bullfrog Films). PPR. SDH captioned. ISBN: 1-94154-508-4. Volume 30, Issue 1
Utopia
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