Could Samson and Delilah bag an Oscar for Australia?
A low-budget Aboriginal love story which won the prestigious Camera d’Or first film prize at the Cannes festival in May has now been awarded best picture in Australia’s National Film Awards and could even pick up an Oscar.
The film titled ‘Samson and Delilah’ tells the tale of a teenage girl caring for her sick grandmother in a town struck down by poverty, who embarks on a tender and loving relationship with a petrol-sniffing boy. It highlights the poverty of such townships and the everyday struggle that young people face as they grow up surrounded by drugs, alcohol and violence.
What is more remarkable about the film is that it is shot in the indigenous language Walpiri, the film’s stars, 14 year olds Marisson Gibson and Rowan McNamara, had never acted before and it was Aboriginal director Warwick Thornton’s first film.
Such is the gritty realism of the film that it led to one Catholic nun who worked with the Aboriginal community to comment: “You know, Samson and Delilah are the children that God forgot.”
Producer Kath Shelper said that she hoped the film would direct people’s attention to the plight of Aboriginal Australians: “I hope that in us making the film, Samson and Delilah will now be the people that Australia will remember.”
Mr Thornton picked up an AFI award for best direction and original screenplay, the young actors both shared the young actor award and it was nominated for best-foreign language film in the 2010 Academy Awards.
Hopes are now high that the film will be nominated for a well deserved Oscar.
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