What was the purpose of the sapphires?

The Sapphires is based on the real-life story of four courageous Indigenous Australian women. In an era of significant racial discrimination, they used their singing talents to entertain American soldiers in Vietnam. The movie is entertaining, and the story has a lot for older children to talk about.

How does the sapphires explore identity?

Identities shift and change as individuals gain new experiences. These events are at times influenced by the social and cultural context in which the individual lives in. In ‘The Sapphires,’ Kay is a victim of the stolen generation and her identity is strongly influenced by Western culture.

What is the true story of the sapphires?

A feel-good film based on the true story of an Aboriginal girl group battling prejudice in 1960s Australia wowed Cannes and is now a hit Down Under. The Sapphires is based on the true story of an Aboriginal girl group from the same family who left Australia to sing soul music for US troops during the Vietnam war.

What characters do the sapphires feature?

The Sapphires is about four Yorta Yorta Indigenous Australian women, Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy), Kay (Shari Sebbens) and Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), who are discovered by a talent scout (Chris O’Dowd), and form a music group named The Sapphires, travelling to Vietnam in 1968 to sing for troops during …

What did you learn from The Sapphires?

Performance and identity The Sapphires explores the growth in experience and confidence of the four young women that comes from escaping the limitations imposed by the racism of Australian society.

What role did The Sapphires play in the Vietnam War?

The Sapphires: Australian Quartet Entertained the Troops in Vietnam War. IF THEY ONLY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE GETTING INTO: The singing group The Sapphires are shown here on a personnel carrier greeting some of the troops in the Vietnam war. The four Australian aborigines were a big hit amongst the soldiers.

What are the themes in the sapphires?

Themes. As a class brainstorm the themes explored in the film, like war, racism, family, belonging, cultural identity, gender, personal growth. After you have identified the themes, consider how each of them is explored in the film narrative.

How Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires tells a story of collective and individual belonging?

Blair explores how belonging can exist both within community groups and internally through self-identity. The bones of the film are based on the true story of Laurel Robinson and Lois Peeler, two Indigenous women who toured Vietnam as the original ‘Sapphires’ with a New Zealand Maori band (Herche 2013).

What are the themes in The Sapphires?

How was the stolen generation justified?

A further justification used by the government of the day was that it was believed that “Pure Blood” Aboriginal people would die out and that the “Mixed Blood” children would be able to assimilate into society much easier, this being based on the premise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were racially …

What are the themes of the sapphires?

Are sapphires PG?

The Sapphires is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sexuality, a scene of war violence, some language, thematic elements and smoking.