The strength of fathers

Actors Lucas Yeeda (Bullet) and his on-screen father, Dean Daley-Jones (TJ), in a scene from the film Mad Bastards, WA. Photo: courtesy Transmission Films.

A new Indigenous-produced film focuses on the importance of fathers in families.

The award-winning film Mad Bastards tells the story of TJ, a man who travels to the Kimberley to reconnect with his 13 year old son.

And Mad Bastards star Dean Daley-Jones, a Noongar man from Perth, is taking the film’s themes of transformation and strong fathers to heart, encouraging fathers to be more involved in growing up their children.

Daley-Jones, who plays TJ, didn’t have to look too far for inspiration for his role, as TJ was based largely on his own life.

The film was in the early stages of production when Daley-Jones approached its producers about working behind the scenes. But the film’s writer and director, Brendan Fletcher, was so intrigued with Daley-Jones’s life stories that he decided to write them into the film script and offer him the starring role.

“There are some definite similarities between TJ and me in the sense of my personal journey until five or six years ago when I realised that there were some major issues I had to sort out with myself, particularly regarding my family,” Daley-Jones says.

He says Mad Bastards made him re-assess the importance of parenthood and he realised that improving his relationship with his own son, whom he had not seen enough of over the years, was a priority.

“As soon as I finished the film I raced back to Perth to be with my son. Family is the most important thing, particularly for us blackfellas, and sharing our culture and tradition with our kids is vital,” he says.

“I was angry at the world for many years and I would release that emotion by going into a bar and getting drunk. What I’ve learned though is that you’re no good to your family if you’re getting angry and abusing alcohol.

“The message that we’re getting across with this story is that we need to spend time with our family and our community. The things for healing our people are family, land, culture, tradition and language.”