Sister, If You Only Knew
Janet Isaac | Australia 1975 | 51 min
The documentary Sister, If You Only Knew opens with welfare officers ransacking an Aboriginal home while a female voice explains “they just came and took them away from us.”
Sister, If You Only Knew takes as its theme the pressures of life experienced by Aboriginal women living in the city, and the effect that these pressures also have on their men and their children.
In spite of all life’s difficulties, the women seem to survive the urban environment better than the men. Their humour, intelligence and resilience in the face of adversity shines through.
When asked if they wanted to change anything in the content of this film, the participants’ response was “it tells the truth and that is what is important”.
'Sister, if you only knew' on set. Janet Isaac (right) with one of the Aboriginal women. Picture: Sue Doring
