Research Seminar - The Drama Of Anthropological History

Image credit: Haddon, Alfred. "The Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits", 1898.  
 

The Drama Of Anthropological History

Presented by: Michael Eaton

Date: Friday 23 May 2025
Time: 12-1pm
Location: Online via Zoom and in-person at the SCA Writer's Studio (Level 6, Michie Building)

Abstract

The first ethnographic films shot ‘in the field’ were made in 1898 on the Torres Strait island of Mer by Alfred Haddon.  The significance of these four minutes of  cinematography remained largely unrecognised until – speaking immodestly – my documentary The Masks Of Mer (2010) was distributed by the Royal Anthropological Institute.  Since then, I have been attempting to make a feature film about this historic encounter.  Thus far, a 90-minute radio drama has been produced followed by a publication ‘Head Hunters’, after Haddon’s own title for his account of the fascinating circumstances surrounding the work of his team.  The Reports of the Expedition had an unintended consequence in the 1990s when their findings were used in the Mabo decision which finally recognised native land title.  Ron Day, a tribal elder on Mer, himself a descendent of one of Haddon’s friends, told me he regarded Haddon as ‘a champion of the world.’  In this seminar, I want to discuss why these events have been an inspiration and what choices I’ve made in turning ‘true-life’ into dramatic narrative. 

Presenter

Michael Eaton is an award-winning dramatist who has worked in film, television, theatre and audio.  As well as original screenplays, he is known for drama-documentaries such as Why Lockerbie, and Shipman as well as adaptations of works of Charles Dickens including The Pickwick Papers for BBC Radio 4 and Great Expectations for the stage.  He is an Adjunct Professor in The School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland.