Bran Nue Dae is a 1990 musical set in
Broome, Western AustraliaBroome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
that tells stories and of issues relating to
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. It was written by
Jimmy ChiJimmy Chi was born in 1948 in Broome, Western Australia, to a Chinese/Japanese/Anglo-Australian father and a Scots/Bardi Aboriginal mother. He is a composer, musician and playwright.- Biography :...
, his band
KucklesKuckles is an Australian band. They formed in 1981 by students from Broome, Western Australia studying at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide. Their music moved from acoustic calypso toward an electric reggae/rock style...
and friends and was the first Aboriginal musical. The musical was originally directed by Andrew Ross, a prominent theatre director in Western Australia. The name is a phonetic representation of 'Brand New Day'.
The musical won the prestigious
Sidney Myer Performing Arts AwardsThe Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards honour Sidney Myer a Jewish Australian businessman and philanthropist who established what is now the Myer Foundation. These awards seek to enhance the status of the performing arts in Australia and recognise outstanding achievement in drama, comedy, dance,...
in 1990. The following year the published script and score won the Special Award in the
Western Australian Premier's Book AwardsThe Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an award for books, scripts, digital narrative and a People's Choice. Awards are provided by the Government of Western Australia, and the awards process is managed by the State Library of Western Australia...
.
A documentary
Bran Nue Dae tells the story of the creation of the musical.
Film version
The musical has been turned into a feature film directed by
Rachel PerkinsRachel Perkins is a film and television director, film and television producer and a writer. She is known for her films Bran Nue Dae, Radiance and One Night the Moon. Perkins is an Arrernte woman from Central Australia, who was raised in Canberra by parents Eileen and Charles Perkins...
starring
Ernie Dingo Ernie Dingo AM is an Indigenous Australian actor and television presenter originating from the Yamatji people of the Murchison region of Western Australia.-Background:...
,
Geoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
,
Jessica MauboyJessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
,
Missy HigginsMelissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
,
Deborah MailmanDeborah Mailman , is an Australian television and film actress. She was the first Aboriginal actress to win the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role...
,
Magda SzubanskiMagda Szubanski is a British-born Australian actress, comedian, television presenter, radio host and author.Szubanski's career began while she was studying at university and she progressed to television sketch comedy, as both a writer and performer...
and
Dan SultanDan Sultan is an Australian singer and songwriter. Sultan plays what he calls country soul rock ‘n’ roll.-Biography:Daniel Leo Sultan was born in 1983 and grew up in Williamstown, Melbourne. His father was Irish and his mother, Roslyn Sultan, was Aboriginal from the Arrernte and Gurindji people...
.
The film premiered at the
Melbourne International Film FestivalThe Melbourne International Film Festival is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World....
and won the Audience Award for Best Film. It was theatrically released in Australia on 14 January 2010. It debuted with $2.5million in its first week, solidifying it as a box office hit. It went on to gross over $7million, making it one of the most successful Australian films of all time.