Teone | Rain Painting

RAIN PAINTING

In 2008, I met Judith Milliken at Griffith University's Intersections Symposium where we spoke about the dynamic Health Coalition which was operating in the Logan - Beaudesert area. The Health Coalition adopts a holistic approach to addressing the health needs of the Logan-Beaudesert community in order to develop and deliver health programs and services for the local community. We discussed ideas for a film and training project for youth living in and around Beaudesert. I proposed an arts-based program that sought to stimulate open discussion and positive ideas from teenagers in a range of films that could inspire youth at-large to turn their backs on the practice of inhaling solvents (commonly referred to as sniffing or chroming). The major objective for the project would be to teach the participants how to craft their own films into entertaining, educational community resources.

The project is a collaborative partnership including Queensland Health, Mununjali Jymbi Centre, Beaudesert youth, the Logan Beaudesert Health Coalition and myself,... all working together to develop useful resources that will help shape community narrative into film projects that contribute meaningfully to the health and well-being of the community at-large.The drama Rain Painting is a narrative drama about a series of events unfolding around a group of young adults entranced by toxic features of contemporary American culture. The companion documentary Kicking the Can explores the group's developmental processes as we collaboratively seek to raise and answer questions, generate new stories and offer strong learning outcomes that continue to flourish in the community.

As a non-Indigenous filmmaker and producer, my intentions for initiating KTC and Rain Painting are to create substantial learning opportunities for the kids to pick up skills in the foundations of video production. My aim has been to motivate the students to creatively examine their own perceptions about issues of substance abuse. Collaborating on the performer's dialogues, instigating improvisation and fresh performance through discussions and consultation, will encourage the cast to tell the story in their own voices, avoiding imposing stereotypes that so frequently misrepresent Indigenous people and culture. This objective will be sought through the fostering of creative inquiry.