AUF DER HEIDE, JONATHAN & REDDING, OSCAR - VAN DIEMEN'S LAND
HONEST AND AUTHENTIC
Writer/director Jonathan Auf Der Heide wants to portray the story of convict
cannibal Alexander Pearce with honesty and authenticity, as he explains in this
statement about his first feature, Van Diemen’s Land. You can LISTEN to the
conversation between Jonathan, the film’s star Oscar Redding, and Andrew L.
Urban.
It’s impossible to grow up in Tasmania without being aware of the true story of
Alexander Pearce and his fateful escape. The myth of the ‘Van Diemen’s Land
Cannibal’ is one of Tasmanian folklore and has found its way into countless
books or songs. But little is known by the general public of the fate of Pearce
and his fellow escapees beyond the titillating myth of murder and cannibalism.
In the past, works such as For the Term of His Natural Life (Marcus Clarke) took
liberties with the events and portrayed Pearce as a bloodthirsty monster that
lured fellow convicts into the bush to dine on their flesh. It’s my belief that
such misconceptions and exaggerations haven’t done the story justice. They only
scrape the surface as to why a man would go to such lengths; and how colonial
Australia could produce such a horrific brutal tale. Portraying Pearce as a
monster is the easy story to tell and was a marketable product for 19th century
audiences. But today we demand honesty no matter how confronting.
The true and documented events of what happened in 1822 are horrific enough
without embellishment. To characterise Pearce as a human being, not so very
different in his essential nature to you or I, as a man who through
extraordinary events did what he had to do to survive, is what makes this story
interesting and relevant to an audience today.
"Is it human instinct to kill in order to survive?"
Perhaps it's not the anticipation of who is to be killed next or the
desperate fight for freedom that makes this story intriguing, but more so the
questions it asks of its audience. It’s the great stories that, once we’re
witness to them, leave us changed. It’s the great stories whose essence and
meaning resonate to affect our own lives through understanding. It’s the great
stories that create a momentum of their own and demand to be watched and heard.
The true story of Alexander Pearce is one of those stories.
Eight convicts venture through the heart of the wilderness and into the wildness
of their own nature. In their bid for freedom they take us into a brutal world
that confronts us with questions of our instinctual nature. Is it human instinct
to kill in order to survive? I believe it’s the very reason as to why we’re here
today and consequently, underneath our veil of ‘civilization’ is a repressed
need for violence. Van Diemen’s Land not only explores Australia’s dark colonial
past but it also questions our very idea of what it is to be human.
JONATHAN AUF DER HEIDE
Jonathan grew up in Tasmania where, in the early days of British settlement the
convict Alexander Pearce and his comrades were kept captive on Sarah Island.
Jonathan has held a long time ambition to bring this story to the screen and
embarked on study at the VCA School of Film and Television (University of
Melbourne) to develop the necessary skills, including moonlighting on Paul Cox’s
latest film Salvation as the Assistant Editor.
Jonathan’s VCA graduating film Hell’s Gates was a preview to this feature and
has earned success in its own right screening at the Melbourne International
Film Festival, the Showcase for Australian contemporary cinema at the Australia
America Society in New York and in competition at the 31st edition of the
Rencontres Henri Langlois International Film Schools Festival.
An experienced actor, Jonathan has performed with many Tasmanian and Victorian
companies including the Melbourne Theatre Company and ensemble outfit The Keene
Taylor Project that premiered the works of playwright Daniel Keene.
Jonathan regularly teaches for the VCA Foundation Course.
Published September 24, 2009
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 Email this article
 Jonathan Auf Der Heide
JONATHAN AUF DER HEIDE & OSCAR REDDING - AUDIO INTERVIEW by Andrew L. Urban (13 minutes)
Oscar Redding
REVIEW
Further reading – other projects dealing with this subject:
Dying Breed
The Last Confession
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