Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size From Rabbit-Proof Fence to Australia , filmmakers have long been grappling with the harrowing subject of the Stolen Generations – Aboriginal families torn apart by government policies between 1910 and 1970.
More often than not, these stories have been told predominantly by non-Indigenous filmmakers. Now, Jon Bell, a Wiradjuri, Bundjalung and Yaegl director, has created The Moogai , a supernatural horror steeped in Indigenous history, written, directed and produced by a First Nations team. Adapted from Bell’s award-winning short film of the same name, it follows an Aboriginal couple who have just had their second baby.
Upon returning home, the mother (Shari Sebbens) begins to suspect an evil entity is after her children, sending her on a desperate journey to protect them. The creature haunting the family is the “moogai”, a Bundjalung colloquialism for boogeyman, or stealer of children. Though the boogeyman is far from new – it has appeared in other horrors such as Sinister and The Nightmare Before Christmas – it’s an iteration never seen before, one that’s irrevocably woven into a traumatic collective history.
Jon Bell created The Moogai, the first film about the Stolen Generations that was written, directed and produced by a First Nations team. Credi.
