About the Film

“Back to Brisbane”

This is a story of one woman's struggle with her past and present. She is world-renowned aboriginal artist Dr. Pamela Croft, who is Australia's first indigenous person to gain a doctorate in visual art.

Born in 1955 Pamela grew up in a political climate in Australia that was very much of white domination. Australia’s assimilation policy called for aboriginal children, that were fairer skinned or half-caste to be removed from their families and be placed on reservations or non-aboriginal adoptive families. The objective was to assimilate indigenous peoples into white western society. By doing so these children would learn the ways of white families, while ignoring their aboriginal heritage. As adults they would marry white and over time the culture and race would cease to exist.

At the age of 6 Pamela’s mother was forced to give Pamela up for adoption. Pamela was placed with the Pagets who were Pamela’s caregivers while Edie went to work. The circumstances surrounding this adoption are shocking and difficult to comprehend even to this day.

The Pagets, a Christian fundamentalist family, raised Pamela until she was 18 years of age. As a result of the strong Christian upbringing and being separated from her mom, Pamela grew up very isolated and was given an identity which was not her own. Yearly visits from her biological mother only added to her isolation and lack of self worth. She was forced to live her childhood and teen years dominated by religion and she endured years of mental and physical abuse. It wasn't until she was in her 30's that Pamela had an awakening of herself and began to investigate her true identity and trace her ancestral aboriginal heritage. Much of that journey was to revisit her childhood and claim the memories that she had locked away for so many years.

Now at the age of 51 Pamela traces her past in this story of cultural identity, reconciliation, and family reconnection. She has reunited with her biological mother who now lives next door on Pamela’s 100-acre property. They both hope to work on an emotionally distant and struggling relationship. Will they have a mother-daughter relationship that was stripped of them over 40 years ago, or will the years apart prove to be too much?