Heartland (1994)

Cate Blanchett as: Elizabeth “Beth” Ashton

Directors:Paul Faint, Scott Hartford-Davis, Julian Pringle, Kate Woods
Selected Cast: Ernie Dingo, Bob Maza, Justine Saunders, Steven Vidler, Shane O’Connor, Aaron Pedersen
Written by: Ernie Dingo and John Cundill
Release Year: 1994
Genre: Drama

 

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Heartland deals with the mystery surrounding the death of an Aboriginal girl and the doubts concerning the guilt of her boyfriend, who is arrested for her murder. It is also a love story between two of the people convinced of his innocence. Their growing relationship must survive hostility from both the white and black communities and the obstacles of their different backgrounds, attitudes and cultures.

Set in a small coastal town against the turmoil of murder, mystery and romance, Heartland follows the people from this seaside community and their battle to restructure their own way of life. Their struggle to restore their self-esteem towards a positive future, despite the obstacles in their path.

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Still; On set
Related Videos

The videos after the trailer are playlists of selected interviews with the cast and creators, just click on the playlist icon/thumbnails to see the other videos in it.

Quotes from Cate Blanchett

  • “What has been fantastic for me has been learning how alive those beliefs are, even among urban Aboriginals. And, of course, they differ from language group to language group. And that’s been fantastic too; learning not to generalise about the Aboriginal community, and that I’m not a spokesperson for them, either.” (The Age Melbourne, March 1994)
  • “I knew climactically and emotionally there would be huge highs and lows, but it’s kind of been greater and huger than I could ever have imagined.
    …there’s been a lot of subconscious learning [from the largely Aboriginal cast].”     (Who Australia, April 1994)

Quotes from Others

  • Ernie Dingo:
    — On the series reaching people in far-flung places since it was aired on ABC: “Wherever they are, they are gonna watch this production and look at it in a very favorable way. More so because the kids can now relate their traditional culture from their area to what is brought up in this production. That’s important.”
    — “We had (tribal) law people on set; we had cultural advisers advising me. If anything negative is portrayed, I am to blame from the traditional point of view, and I kinda like the way my face is enough (not) to have it rearranged.”

Trivia & Facts

  • This was the first major TV project for Cate Blanchett.
  • The series premiered on ABC Australia on 23 March 1994.
  • The series is known as ‘Burned Bridges’ in other countries.
  • The series was considered groundbreaking at the time since it was the first major TV series written by Aboriginal Australians and with a cast that consist of mainly Aboriginal people.
  • The first kiss between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal actors that aired in Australia is in this series, between the characters played by Ernie Dingo (Vincent Burunga) and Cate Blanchett (Beth Ashton).
  • Ernie Dingo and Bob Maza were the major cultural consultant for the series.
  • The Episode 7 of the series won Best Episode in TV Drama and Best Direction for Julian Pringle at 1994 AFI (now AACTA) Awards.
  • Episodes 6 to 7 were filmed in Western Australia where Ernie Dingo is from.
  • Cate Blanchett and Jeremy Sims were both in Police Rescue: The Movie (1994).

Heartland launch in Sydney, 1 March 1994