While auditioning for a prestigious institution some years ago, Papua New Guinean writer, creator and actor Wendy Mocke was asked to “go out and channel her ancestors”.
As most comedians or actors would, she took that memorable moment and put it into her work — in this case, Bad Ancestors, the first Pacific-Australian comedy on Australian screens for ABC led and produced by Pasifika.
“The funny thing was, no matter how many years ago [it was], I was like, ‘I’m going to use that one day, and you’re going to regret ever asking’,” she told Nesia Daily.
The Pacific community historically hasn’t had much positive representation on Australian television, but Mocke and Jessica Magro are two formidable Pacific Island women intent on changing that.
Following two delinquent besties in the afterlife, humour is a main ingredient in Bad Ancestors. But Magro, a producer on the comedy series, said its episodes also offered a depth drawn from lived experiences.
“People who have read the script or watched the show have come and said to me, ‘This has happened to me in one way, shape or form’. That’s what’s so heartbreaking,” Magro said.
“We’re really kind of showing our lived experiences in these short episodes, and so many people are like, ‘Damn’.
“They’re finally feeling a little bit seen… Like that wasn’t just happening in your head, you didn’t imagine it. That actually happened to you and it’s not okay.”
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Selected by ABC and Screen Australia for three short episodes, the series is Australia’s first look at Pasifika-Australia through comedy, which Magro, a proud Samoan-Maltese-Australian TV producer and director, describes as “for community, by community”.
“So, [we’re] talking about healing,” she said.
“Honestly, I do think that being able to finally share our traumas is how we’re going to heal collectively as a community and especially for a community who hasn’t historically had any representation on television. Not positive, anyway.”
‘We’re gonna bring our people with us’
Mocke pitched the project to Magro almost two years ago after the script had been sitting with a major Australian-based production company for months that “didn’t know what to do with it”.
The cast and crew include director Vanilla Tupu, proud Tiwi/Arrernte actor Josheph Althouse, Lisa Maza and Edward O’Leary of PNG heritage.
Black Pacific Islander representation and identity is something Mocke is very conscious of in her work.
“I don’t know how we get to a place where it’s not that way, because I instinctively start from there. Having navigated this industry… these things, while it’s natural, it’s also intentional to write roles like this for our community, for us, so we can just play our damn selves.
“It’s wild that this is not a normal thing.”
While audiences are expected to laugh, Mocke also hopes viewers are left feeling empowered.
“I’m specifically going to speak to young Pacific Islanders, young black creatives: always dream big.
“Even though people may think small of us, that doesn’t mean we necessarily have to, and so even by creating a world like Bad Ancestors, and I hope I can say this … but I always go balls to the wall on everything.
“I dream big. And then we just try to hit it. Because if I’ve got that one shot, then I’m sure as hell going to take that one shot. And we’re gonna bring our people with us.”
The PNG artist and NIDA acting graduate also hopes Pacific audiences know they are capable of creating this style of work as well.
“Shoot your shot. And if you fail, fail up,” she said.
“We can use our culture, our roots to … put a contemporary spin on it, and make it really good. And so I’m hoping people also really like it. If not, I’ll be in a cave somewhere in Siberia.”
Bad Ancestors will be released on ABC TV’s YouTube channel and iview on February 2.
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