| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (52 min. 18 sec.) ; 317285424 bytes |
| Summary |
This two part epic saga follows the lives of Leandro Illin and a Ngadjon woman, Kitty Clarke, a traditional owner of the land. In 1910, the Illins, a family of aristocratic Russian dissidents, fled to Australia to escape persecution. Travelling to tropical North Queensland, they took a parcel of land in the wild Atherton rainforest along with other Russian immigrants who dreamed of establishing a Utopian community. Their Little Siberia, however, could not protect them from harassment.Leandro was 28 when he met Kitty, a 20-year-old widow with three children. When their relationship produced a child, Leandro applied to marry Kitty, but the Protector of Aborigines refused permission and instead sent police to remove her and her children. Unable to bear a separation, Leandro and Kitty took off into the wild where they were protected from the police by the Aboriginal people. Eventually Leandro confronted the Queensland Premier at a railway station, demanding permission to marry Kitty.The Bolshevik Revolution of 1918 brought a wave of xenophobia to Australia. After the backlash from the Brisbane Red Flag riots, many of the Illin family left for South America. But the law of the early 20th century prevented full-blood Aborigines from travelling. Thus Leandro remained behind with Kitty and their children. Disillusioned, Leandro withdrew to a remote outback location, taking his family with him. For Kitty, the journey saw her removed from her traditional land and people. Tragedy struck when Kitty, isolated and far from medical assistance, died after enduring a complicated birth. With his wife and newborn child dead, Leandro moved the family closer to civilisation, at Greenvale station. Here, he threw himself into helping the dozens of Aboriginal people on the property. As friend and confidant, Leandro, among other things, wrangled with the local police in order to retrieve wages ostensibly withheld for their "protection".As his children grew up, Leandro moved them into town where they could go to school. The outbreak of the Second World War saw two of his sons join the Australian army. Leandro died in 1946, but his ideals of "truth, justice and equality" were passed on to his son-in-law, Richard Hoolihan, who in turn passed them on to Eddie Mabo when they founded the Aboriginal Advancement League. Leandro was acknowledged by Eddie Mabo when he won the historic High Court case awarding the first Native Title claim in Australia. In 1998, Kitty's people, the Ngadjon Aborigines, won back the rights to their traditional land.Today, there are 200 descendants of Leandro and Kitty. Many are leaders in their communities and tireless fighters for human rights.Pioneers of Love is a Big Island Pictures and Orana Films production. Financed by the Film Finance Corporation and produced with the assistance of the Pacific Film and Television Corporation and the NSW Film and Television Office. In association with SBS Independent. (Commissioned by SBS Independent, in English) |
| Event |
Broadcast 2011-03-08 at 20:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: PG |
| Subject |
Aboriginal Australians -- Legal status, laws, etc.
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Aboriginal Australians, Treatment of.
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Dissenters.
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Illin, Leandro, 1882-1946.
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Immigrants -- Biography.
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Immigrants -- Social life and customs.
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Australia.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Miller, Lydia, cast
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Nimmo, Julie, director
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