Based on the eponymous book by historian Henry Reynolds, North of Capricorn is a new documentary that looks at a part of Australia like no other, north of the tropic of Capricorn. The deep North’s rich heritage goes way back before colonial times, when Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian traders came to fish for sea cucumbers or trade with the local Indigenous people, plantation owners kidnapped Pacific Island workers, and the fledgling pearl industry attracted a variety of foreigners, making the area uniquely multicultural. With such diverse ancestry, the population soon produced its own architecture, music, fashion, food and work ethic. Smith tells this fascinating story through rare archival footage, as well as interviews with the community’s descendants.

This film is part of Asia and the Pacific Screens Season Four: Roots & Routes, sponsored by the Australian Centre on China in the World.

Directed by Margaret Anne Smith
2014, 54 mins, Australia
English