tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711474060981003322.post2194013701385267650..comments2023-12-05T02:44:04.034-08:00Comments on James Ricketson: "Ruth Harley resigns for family reasons"James Ricketsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06366597246927581660noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711474060981003322.post-82198042563850776072012-06-14T18:34:26.411-07:002012-06-14T18:34:26.411-07:00If Ricketson has not written the correspondence, a...If Ricketson has not written the correspondence, as he insists, Ruth Harley has abused the power entrusted in her by both the Screen Australia Board and the Minister for the Arts Simon Crean. If Ricketson has not harassed or intimidated Screen Australia staff, if he has not placed them at risk (of what, one must wonder!) there must be some other reason why Harley has banned him. I for one am curious to know. One has to presume also that Harley would not make such a radical decision without the imprimatur of the Screen Australia Board, raising the question as to what was going on in the minds of the Board members when they voted? This question applies in particular to the two film directors on the Board – Rachel Perkins and Robert Connolly. Are they cognizant of the real reasons for Ricketson’s banning or have they seen the correspondence that Harley refers to as her reason for the ban? So many questions and no answers at all. <br /><br />I gave up trying to make films in Australia some time ago for reasons not dissimilar to what appears to be going on here – powerful Screen Australia bureaucrats (though they were powerful AFC and FFC bureaucrats then) who are never ever held accountable for their actions and who, through their network of friends, produce the bulk of films made in Australia. Ruth Harley and Fiona Cameron seem to have become members of this club and all the indications are that Screen Australia is now a body that has been corrupted by the power vested in a small clique whose actions are never questioned by the Screen Australia Board or by Mr Crean. It is small wonder that our films underperform when it is not the best and brightest making the decisions but those who have been able to play the power game most cleverly and in such a way as to guarantee that dissident voices are silenced and those who ask difficult questions are marginalized. One further question that must be asked here is why it is that Australian filmmakers accept this state of affairs. Screen Australia is there to serve the needs of the industry, not vice versa. So many questions, so few answers!Expatriatenoreply@blogger.com