Natasha Wanganeen (born 20 June 1984) is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film Rabbit-Proof Fence, aged 15, and numerous television roles. Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short film, an Indigenous sci-fi drama entitled Bunker: The Last Fleet, about an alien invasion of Australia, in which she also takes the lead role.
Natasha Wanganeen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 June 1984 Point Pearce, South Australia, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer, producer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Relatives | Gavin Wanganeen, Trevor Jamieson |
| Awards | AFI Young Actor's Award, 2004 |
Early life
editWanganeen was born in Point Pearce, South Australia, moving to Port Adelaide when she was five years old.[1] She is a Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar woman.[2]
Career
editWanganeen appeared in Rabbit-Proof Fence (released 2002), playing a dormitory boss[2] at the age of fifteen,[3] and the made-for-TV film Jessica directed by Peter Andrikidis and released in 2004.
In 2017, she starred as a zombie-killer[2] in the dystopian thriller Cargo.[3][2] Also in 2017, she played the role of Gilyagan in Kate Grenville's play The Secret River presented during the Adelaide Festival in March, having previously played a different role in the 2015 two-part TV series of the same name.[4]
She played Mary, mother of a talented gymnast, in feature film A Second Chance: Rivals!, released in 2019,[5][6] and in the same year played a ghoul in the horror film Dark Place.[2]
In June 2020, Wanganeen was writing a script for her own independent film, Battle of the Ancestors, set 60,000 years ago against a backdrop of Aboriginal mythology, including Dreamtime stories and characters she knows from here childhood years. She is being supported by Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation in this endeavour, and is in talks with local production companies who are interested in seeing it made.[2]
Wanganeen was on the jury for the Feature Fiction and Documentary awards at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival.[7][8]
Television roles include playing Mary Ann Bugg, a late 19th-century bushranger, in Drunk History Australia (Network 10, 2020) and a chef in Aftertaste (Closer Productions/ABC Comedy, 2021). She plays a government official in 2067, a sci-fi thriller feature film directed by Seth Larney released in 2020.[8][9]
Originally intended as a sci-fi series,[2] Bunker: The Last Fleet, co-written by Wanganeen, Stephen Potter, and Rowan Pullen, directed by the latter two, and co-produced by the three of them and others,[10] was inspired by Afrofuturism.[2] It was first released as a short film, with the intention of growing into a feature film. It had its Australian premiere at the St Kilda Film Festival in June 2022, with multiple screenings following around Australia (including Revelation Perth International Film Festival and Adelaide Film Festival) and internationally. Wanganeen plays Tjarra, an Aboriginal warrior in Australia 37 years in the future, and Kaurna elder Uncle Fred Agius plays the role of an elder. Trevor Jamieson (who is a cousin) gave cultural advice and also plays a role in the film.[11] The film was filmed entirely in the South Australian desert.[12] As the first Aboriginal sci-fi move, it is described as a "cheeky take on the First Fleet in Australia".[11]
In 2023, she appeared in Ivan Sen's mystery, crime drama Limbo, which was nominated in 'competition section' at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, to be held from February 16 to 26, 2023.[13]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Rabbit Proof Fence | Nina, Dormitory Boss | Feature film |
| Australian Rules | Nunga family member (uncredited) | Feature film | |
| Black and White | Extra (uncredited) | Feature film | |
| 2017 | Cargo | Josie Bell, a zombie | Feature film |
| 2018 | Konya | Angelica | Short film |
| Wild | Rosie | Short film | |
| White Lies | Nurse Lilian | Short film | |
| 2019 | Storm Boy | Susan Franklin | Feature film |
| Dark Place | Ghoul | Segment: Killer Native | |
| A Second Chance: Rivals! | Mary | Feature film | |
| 2020 | Waiyiri | Lacardi | Short film |
| 2067 | Government Official | Feature film | |
| A Sunburnt Christmas | Nurse | Feature film | |
| 2021 | Djaambi | Tjarrah | Short film |
| 2022 | Fate of the Night | Kate | Feature film |
| Bunker: The Last Fleet | Tjarra | Short film | |
| The Survival of Kindness | Waiting Woman | Feature film | |
| 2023 | Limbo | Emma | Feature film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jessica | Mary Simpson | Miniseries |
| Through My Eyes | Interpreter | Miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 2007 | Sacred Ground | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2013 | Redfern Now | Emily | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2015 | The Secret River | ||
| 2017 | Lost in Pronunciation | Woman in pub | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2018 | Sisters | Online miniseries | |
| 2019 | Lucy and DIC | Christina | TV series, 8 episodes |
| 2020 | Drunk History Australia | Mary Ann Bugg | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Aftertaste | Line Cook | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2021-22 | Firebite | Rona | TV series, 8 episodes |
| 2022 | The Tourist | CCTV Gift Shop Employee | TV series, 2 episodes |
| MaveriX | Trish Peterson | TV series, 6 episodes | |
| The Australian Wars | Enslaved Woman | Miniseries, 1 episode |
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Secret River | Gillyagan | Adelaide Festival |
Awards
editActivism
editIn 2018, Wanganeen advocated for greater cultural diversity in Australian screen culture, saying "There are not enough black faces on our screens and talking about it is a constructive conversation that we need to have".[15] She expressed her pleasure at the portrayal of Aboriginal people in Cargo (2017) as "living free and strong on the land".[16]
Wanganeen was one of the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest in Adelaide on 6 June 2020, which focussed on racism and injustices against Indigenous Australians, in particular high rates of incarceration and Aboriginal deaths in custody.[17][18]
Personal life
editAs of 2017[update] Wanganeen lives in Port Adelaide. She is related to Australian rules footballer Gavin Wanganeen,[4] and actor and playwright Trevor Jamieson is a cousin.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Natasha Wanganeen". Deadly Vibe (94). 30 November 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Skujins, Angela (16 June 2020). "'Bunker: The Last Fleet' imagines a dystopian Australian future through an Indigenous lens". CityMag. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ a b Wanganeen, Natasha (3 January 2019). "Top Shelf: Natasha Wanganeen" (audio & text). Radio National (The Screen Show) (Interview). Interviewed by Di Rosso, Jason. Originally aired 12 July 2018. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Mother of all roles for actress". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ Osborne, Kayla (16 September 2019). "Budding Glen Alpine actress scores first role in a feature film". Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "A Second Chance: Rivals! (2019) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Jury". Adelaide Film Festival. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ a b Groves, Don (21 September 2020). "Natasha Wanganeen looks for strong, powerful roles". IF Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Keen, Suzie (8 October 2020). "Sci-fi thriller 2067 mixes adventure with some big questions". InDaily. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Bunker: The Last Fleet at IMDb
- ^ a b c Vann-Wall, Silvi (1 June 2022). "Natasha Wanganeen on Bunker, The Last Fleet: 'Sci-fi films saved my life'". ScreenHub Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Vivienne (28 April 2022). "'Bunker: The Last Fleet' to Premiere at St Kilda Film Festival". Variety Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Vivienne (19 August 2022). "'Limbo' Starring Simon Baker Starts Filming in South Australia". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Natasha Wanganeen - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "Natasha Wanganeen questions diversity on Australian screens". SBS Your Language. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "Outback Australia after the plague". Eureka Street. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ Wedding, Nicole. "Gallery: Moments From Adelaide's Black Lives Matter Rally". Broadsheet. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Skujins, Angela (9 June 2020). "'You're going to hear us – really hear us'". CityMag. Photos by Jack Fenby, Tim Lyons and Dimitra Koriozos. Retrieved 30 June 2020.