Highlights
- 'The Furnace' focuses on cameleers in outback Australia in the 19th century, who braved hostile conditions to provide a lifeline to settlers at both ends of the continent.
- The Sikh, Muslim and Hindu cameleers enjoyed a close relationship with Indigenous Australians.
- They are still identified as 'Ghan' in a mistaken reference believing that most cameleers came from Afghanistan, whilst many belonged to India and Persia.
The Furnace is a confronting film set in the Australian outback in the 1890s, attempting to revive the history of cameleers who came from India and beyond, their special relationship with the Aboriginal people and how they probably laid the foundation of the Australia we know it today.
“Cameleers were typically labelled Ghan as if all of them came from Afghanistan," director Roderick MacKay told SBS Punjabi.
"But in fact, they came from India, Persia, and parts of the Middle East, and belonged to Islamic, Sikh and Hindu faiths. We attempt to demystify that in this movie and show the very special relationship they shared with the Aboriginal community in the outback.”
Even before its release, the film has won critical acclaim, with The Furnace being the only Australian film selected for the prestigious 2020 Venice Film Festival.
Mr MacKay says he completed thesis-like research on the history of late 19th century Australia, where these cameleers were the only lifeline that connected a “disparate group of colonies settled on the east and west coasts of a vast land”.
The film was six years in the making, and no effort was spared to make the characters authentic.
“I’m not Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or Aboriginal – therefore we had cultural consultants advising us because we wanted to get the script absolutely right.”
Harjit Singh from the Australian Sikh Heritage Association was the Sikh consultant who worked on the film for nearly two years and advised on the cultural nuances.
A still from the film The Furnace, showcasing Muslim, Sikh and Hindi cameleers in outback Australia in the 19th century Source: Roderick MacKay
Mr Mackay says his input made it “a great journey of discovery for me”.
“I learnt so much about the role that Sikhs play generally and how they carry themselves in the community. Even back then, they were natural leaders, and led camel trains.”
Sikh cameleers often led the bands of brothers who came from very different lands.
The history has been woven into a fictional tale about a young Afghan cameleer on the run with his bushman partner, with two stolen Crown-marked gold bars in their possession. The hostility of the land and the violence of the times are on full display, and so is the sense of camaraderie and brotherhood amongst cameleers and the Indigenous people.
The film showcases several languages including English, Punjabi, Pashto, Urdu, Cantonese and importantly Badimaya, an Indigenous Australian language.
Mr Mackay says he is "fairly confident" that the events described in the film are historically accurate.
“That was a pretty lawless time in history, and many events, including what is shown in the prologue are based on first-hand accounts,” he says referring to the violence shown in the film.
“It may seem far-fetched or bombastic storytelling to some, but this is informed by true events. Everything may not have occurred over seven days as shown in the film, but they did occur across this vast landmass of ours during that time, and we present this as a historical stew.”
So what was the thought process that inspired this film?
“For the Australian audience, it is important to acknowledge and recognise this history - that all kinds of people were present at the frontier, and they played an important role in the formation of the country. There were many religious, cultural and ethnic groups – they were in the outback amongst convicts, slave labour, and the colonial class.”
Mr Mackay believes if it weren’t for the cameleers, the inland development of Australia would’ve lagged by decades.
“They made a huge contribution which is seldom recognised in history. Cameleers laid the foundation for telegraph lines, roads, railroads, and brought physical connectivity to Australians.”
“This is a film that can bring us closer together even though there are many confronting truths in it.”
As Harjit Singh, the Sikh consultant associated with the film, says: “It can unravel us and weave us back together tighter than before.”
The film releases in over 100 cinemas around Australia on Thursday, 10 December 2020 and has been produced in conjunction with SBS.
To hear the interview with Roderick MacKay, click on the audio icon above.
