Back Seat, Backseat

Pauline Whyman | Australia 2007 | 5 min

Back Seat is a film inspired by Pauline Whyman's own life experiences. It tells the story of 12-year-old Janine, a young Aboriginal girl which her foster parents take for the first visit to her biological family.

Janine discovers that she has 8 siblings who all live with her mother. She is at a loss and cannot really comprehend what is going on. While her foster parents exaggerate her school performance her siblings can't work out how to integrate her. Overwhelmed Janine escapes to the back seat of her foster parent's car and locks it.

Cast	Zoe Carides Lille Madden Lily Shearer Richard Sydenham Aletha Penrith Jyda Bayles Brayden Pittman Blake Pittman Raier Blakeney Beverly (foster mother) Janine (girl) Elsie (biological mother) Barry (foster father) Gail (sibling) Vanessa (sibling) DJ (sibling) Rob (sibling) Brittany (sibling)
Release dates	May 5, 2007 - Australia (World premiere on the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival)
Video/DVD Release Date	2007, Bit of Black Business
Awards	not available
Rating	PG - Parental guidance recommended
Language level	medium
Distributor	Flickerfest
Soundtrack	David Page
Genre	Drama
Notes	Back Seat's end credits dedicate the film to "all the stolen children who never made it home". Pauline Whyman, a Yorta Yorta woman, taught herself to read and write from cereal packages. Pauline Whyman is also an actress and a writer (play: That's a Good Question, 2004).
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"Inspired by true events, Back Seat is set in the late 70s. It's not so much a coming of age film, but I think 12-year-old Janine finds strength in herself during the film. Especially when Brittany comes to the car window to tell Janine about the family photo - she crosses back to the house and encourages Janine to follow. In that moment Janine knows she can face the world. I felt compelled to tell this story because it plays witness to the quiet determination, courage and strength of Janine. I hope the audience is left with lots of questions to create a dialogue with each other and to never take for granted that life and family are very fragile things."
— Pauline Whyman (source: programs.sbs.com.au)