Normanton, Qld

Crocodile attack teaches film skills to young people in Queensland's Gulf

The town of Normanton in Queensland’s Gulf of Carpentaria is the setting for a new on-going arts program which uses film and multi-media to help connect youth at risk, with their community. The program, Reconnect, is run by Queensland Arts Council and follows the success of a similar project that took place in Mount Isa in 2006. The projects in both towns were supported by the Australia Government’s Regional Arts Fund and are targeted at young people in remote communities.

‘The Reconnect program in Normanton has been terrific. Many young people here leave school in Year 9 and then go on to face unemployment and boredom,” says Jim Vilé, Manager of Ontour inschools  with Queensland Arts Council.

“What we’ve tried to do is encourage a sense of belonging – and we’ve found that the young people really enjoy working with a video camera. It’s a great way of reaching them. It’s given them a point of transition, to show them that they can do something. It builds confidence and helps them realise that they have a future,” he says.

Thirty young people aged from 13 to 19 years worked on the project. They filmed each other in different places around Normanton and then projected the footage onto a model of the town that they had also created. Project worker and local artist, Gary Armstrong, says fishing is a popular activity with the young people so the story centred on a fictional crocodile attack which took place while they were fishing off a local bridge. The work was then performed to the Normanton community.

Mr Vilé says demand for projects such as this is growing in Queensland as community youth workers recognise the strength of the arts as a powerful tool to reach young people who are at risk.

“We’ve been amazed by the impact some of these projects have had on participants. It has sparked a real interest in learning, with some young people encouraged to learn more by going to TAFE.”

“Many towns in isolated areas do not have school teachers trained in the arts; so many children have not had the chance to experience being part of a performance or project like this.”

“We will continue to try engaging local artists and youth workers as much as possible to help sustain the project when we are not there,” he said.

Mr Vilé says a $20,500 contribution from a philanthropic organisation, the Trust Company Pty Ltd, will help the project continue and develop in Normanton throughout 2009.

“We are keen to tour the work to other isolated towns in Queensland to show what the young people have created,” says Mr Vilé.