''Zach's Ceremony'' is an Australian

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

. It looks at the transition to adulthood from an Indigenous cultural perspective. It features Zach Doomadgee and his father Alec Doomadgee.

Synopsis

The film looks at what it means to be an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

and Zach Doomadgee's cultural journey. Zach who is of Indigenous and Caucasian descent is influenced by two cultures. It also looks at how Zach is affected by being one of the few Aboriginal children at his

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

school, being too dark. It also looks at his being too light-skinned when he visits his father's community in far-north

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Production and cast

The film was written and produced by Sarah Linton and directed by Aaron Petersen. Alec Doomadgee played a major part in the film in both direction and production. The film was begun in 2009 when Zach was aged around 10.

Release

''Zach's Ceremony'' premiered at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

in May 2016. The film was also shown at the

Margaret Mead Film Festival The Margaret Mead Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spec ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was announced by ''

FilmInk ''FilmInk'' is an Australian film magazine published by FKP International Exports. It was founded by current publisher Dov Kornits and Colin Fraser in July 1997, in Sydney. The magazine has been through many changes over the course of its exist ...

'' that the documentary would open across Australia from Thursday 30 March 2017, and screen at

Cinema Nova Lygon Street is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, running through the inner northern suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street is synonymous with the Italian community of Melbourne, form ...

Carlton, Victoria Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, three kilometres north of the Melbourne central business district within the city of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census. ...

Awards

At the

Byron Bay Film Festival The Byron Bay Film Festival (BBFF) is a popular AACTA Awards accredited independent awards-based film event held in the late Australian summer at the Palace Cinemas, in the coastal town of Byron BayBrunswick Picture Housein Brunswick Heads and ...

, ''Zach's Ceremony'', along with Brendan Shoebridge's film, '' The Bentley Effect'', took the top awards. Alec Doomadgee was also winner of the Festival's Best Documentary Award. It also won Best Documentary awards at both the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

and the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

''
Zach's Ceremony to open at Cinema Nova
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References

External links

* {{imdb title, 5569614
Website
Documentary films about Aboriginal Australians 2016 documentary films 2016 films 2010s English-language films