All communities deserve to tell their stories with dignity, respect and sovereignty. 

Princess Pictures has a history of making culturally harmful bodies of work that perpetuate racial and ableist stereotypes - from Chris Lilley’s shows to John Safran’s Race Relations. Now they have teamed with SBS and Cinespace to announce a migrant stories anthology series. (Cinespace have recently made an announcement and stepped away from this project as of 19 Oct.) 

We are a coalition of diverse creatives (First Nations, People of Colour, People with Disability, LGBTQIA+ and allies) in the screen industry. We call on Princess Pictures to graciously step away from this project. We urge SBS to stop funding this culturally ignorant company and giving them ownership of multicultural stories. 

There are many culturally competent and experienced First Nations and People of Colour owned production companies who are working hard with little support, to create career development pathways and screen credits for underrepresented writers, directors and producers. Trust them. Fund them. 

Behind the scenes pressure has resulted in Princess Pictures offering an apology for their silence on the suffering they have caused for so long. Words are not enough, meaningful actions must follow. 

Cinespace has taken the right step by disassociating with this initiative yesterday (19 Oct). We ask Princess Pictures and SBS to also step away from the migrant stories anthology project.

Please sign and share this petition.

(This petition is not aimed at any individuals involved in this anthology initiative. This is about creating a profound systemic shift in power dynamics across the screen industry. We all have a duty of care to reduce harm and extractive practices so we can all flourish.)

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An open letter to Princess Pictures

"We don't need you.

We did not ask you to produce Chris Lilley's body of work perpetuating racial violence.

We did not ask you to curate an initiative specifically seeking migrant stories.

We did not ask you for help with our stories.

We reject your saviourism.

What we are asking you to do is very simple.

STOP mining our stories. Step away from the project."  

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Image Description: At the top of this petition is an image of a woman of colour looking up at her reflection on a screen filled with many images of diverse people. The image has an orange tint. 

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Article Links: To learn more about this issue and why this initiative is unacceptable, please read these articles: 

• https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/i-knew-that-jonah-was-me-former-tongan-schoolboy-reveals-anger-and-pain-about-chris-lilley-character-20200619-p554db.html
• https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2021/09/29/moving-back-western-sydney-helped-me-reclaim-my-tongan-identity-and-heal
• https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2018/05/30/its-time-australia-boycott-brown-face
• https://junkee.com/chris-lilley-blackface-jonah/110989
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/opinion/why-isnt-blackface-taboo-for-australians.html
• https://variety.com/2020/streaming/asia/netflix-removes-chris-lilley-shows-racial-depiction-1234630169/
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/12/chris-lilleys-jonah-is-not-from-tonga-i-am-its-time-to-dismantle-racist-brownface-stereotypes
• https://www.facebook.com/110042575704765/photos/a.692238284151855/2642672669108397
• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/09/comedy-or-cruelty-does-chris-lilley-have-a-place-in-2018