Newslines Radio: Film helps Coota girls to heal
We look at how film has been a powerful healing tool for the former residents of Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Training Home.
For the former residents of Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Training Home, the opportunity to share their Stolen Generations story on film was a powerful healing tool.
Newslines Radio caught up with Paul Tait, Jeni Kendell and Darmin Cameron of Gaia Films to find out more about their current work-in-progress The Girls.
They said the filmmaking process provided a cathartic experience for the women as they talked about their experiences. And to then see those stories on screen, to be able to share them with their families, added another dimension to the healing journey.
In this program you will hear how the women responded when they saw the film for the first time as a group at a reunion to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Training Home.
The event was one of many supported by the Australian Government to assist Stolen Generations members and their families on their healing journey.
Find out more
The Girls was funded by the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and the Aboriginal Child, Family and Community Care State Secretariat (AbSec).
The Australian Government provides a range of counselling, family tracing and reunion services for Stolen Generations members through the Department of Health and Ageing’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing program.