‘Back of Beyond’ Series’ Splendid Diversity

It’s a tribute to the richness of the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s comprehensive “Back of Beyond: Discovering Australian Film and Television” survey that a random selection of two of this week’s offerings yields splendid diversity. For example, Pat Fiske’s “Australia Daze” (1988) and James Clayden’s “The Hour Before My Brother Dies” (1986) couldn’t be more different, yet they are both equally rewarding.

Last January, Australia celebrated its bicentennial, which was highlighted by a re-enactment of the fleet of 11 tall ships that dropped anchor in Sydney Harbor on Jan. 16, 1788. Pat Fiske, leading a team of 27 film makers, has commemorated the anniversary with the 65-minute “Australia Daze” (the final offering of Saturday evening’s program), an utterly captivating account of how an extremely wide cross section of Aussies felt about the milestone. In general, the film is a portrait of a society divided by color: the white conquerors and the native blacks. “40,000 Years of Dream Time, 200 Years of Nightmares” proclaims a banner at a Sydney rally of aborigines that attracted more than 15,000 participants. As it turned out, the counter-celebration proved to be a momentous occasion for the aborigines, bringing them together as never before and enabling them to dramatize their protest of two centuries of dispossession and second-class citizenship.

While never letting us forget the aborigines and their cause, Fiske shows us a beautiful and inviting country on holiday, capturing many and varied moods of its citizens. They range from the patriotic to the totally disinterested to the downright hostile. (It’s worth noting that not everyone was thrilled with the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the official ceremonies.) The film’s most encouraging scene begins as its ugliest. A middle-aged man at what looks to be a country club states bluntly that he believes that “90% of the aboriginal population is useless, underworked and overpaid.” Yet a group of young people seated nearby all disagree, stating definitely that the aborigines are at a disadvantage in Australian society. It’s the most hopeful note in this stirring yet ever-detached film.

It’s safe to say that there’s never been an American TV movie like “The Hour Before My Brother Dies,” which was adapted by Daniel Keane from his play and directed by experimental film maker James Clayden. The very model of a cinematic translation of what is essentially a chamber play relieved by flashbacks, it tells of a visit of a sister (Rhonda Wilson) to her brother (Peter Hehir) before he is to be hanged for a senseless crime.

The brother and sister are bound by an incestuous passion that alternates between rage and tenderness, and through this final meeting we’re able to glimpse the outlines and shaping forces of their tormented lives. The film effortlessly flows into the surreal and the poetic, and the performances of Hehir and Wilson are astonishing in their sustained and varied power. This daring and sophisticated film screens Sunday at 1 p.m. For full schedule: (213) 206-FILM, 206-8013.