Yellow Fella (ATOM Study Guide)

Yellow Fella is a compelling documentary, suitable for senior secondary students, on Aboriginal actor Tom E. Lewis' search for the burial place of his father. During the journey, Lewis struggles with inner conflicts about his attitude to his father, and his mixed-race identity.

The film traces Lewis' youth growing up at Roper River with his mother and stepfather, and then going to school in Darwin. Lewis's life has been a roller-coaster, including a bout with alcoholism, but throughout he's been creatively prolific as an actor who gained accolades for his leading role in Fred Schepisi's 1978 film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and more recently in Nick Cave's The Proposition. Lewis also appeared in the films We of the Never Never and Robbery Under Arms), in television features A Town Like Alice and Naked Country and in theatre. He devised the internationally successful, semi-autobiographical multimedia work Lift 'Em up Socks.

But it is the search for his white father's grave, the love story that is uncovered, and the profound personal repercussions on Lewis that are the focus of the film that make this an unforgettable film.

The film's director, Ivan Sen, comes from a similar mixed-race background, which he so poignantly explored in his award-winning feature Beneath Clouds.

Curriculum Links:
The film is a resource that can be used with senior secondary students to explore issues of identity conflict and the impact of the European colonialism in Australia on Indigenous life and traditions. It is relevant to:

• English
• Media Studies – Representation, Documentary Genre, Production, Values
• SOSE / HSIE
• Indigenous Studies