Thanks to Greta Morton Elangué, Festival Director
Festival website: cinemaap.com
In 2023, I had the honor to design the visual identity for the Australian Aboriginal Film Festival, which took place from December 8 to 10, 2023, in Paris. This project included the creation of posters, the program, and publications for social media. I had to highlight Aboriginal culture while underlining the irony of the title 'Blak Australia, Beautiful Country'.
Australia is often presented and perceived abroad as a 'beautiful' country, both for its natural landscapes and its wealth. This is an idealized and sometimes 'kitsch' view of Australia. That's what the expression 'Beautiful Country' might convey. However, this vision too often renders invisible the painful history of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, who have suffered (and still suffer) from discrimination, dispossession, and violence linked to colonization. The irony, therefore, comes from this gap between the 'beautified' view of Australia and the historical and contemporary reality of the Aboriginal peoples. The phrase 'Beautiful Country' highlights this discordance, inviting a deeper reflection on the true challenges and realities of Australia.
The lettering of the poster questions the historical and contemporary realities of Aboriginal peoples through a handcrafted work that creates a visual conversation around the tensions and contradictions of Australian history.