Cleverman
| Cleverman | |
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| Original language(s) | English Kumbainggar |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
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| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 1 June 2016 – present |
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Cleverman is an Australian-New Zealand-American television drama series based on an original concept by Ryan Griffen. The series premiered on 1 June 2016 on SundanceTV in the United States and on ABC in Australia the following day.
The six-part drama series reimagines several stories of the Aboriginal Dreamtime in a modern, superheroic context, and reflects on racism, asylum seekers and border protection. Its central story revolves around two estranged Gumbaynggirr brothers who are forced together to fight for their own survival when one of them is passed the mantle of the "Cleverman". Creatures from the Dreaming also feature in the series' real world dystopian landscape.
The series was renewed for a second season on 2 June 2016, and received A$450,000 in funding from Screen NSW.
The Cleverman is an important figure in many Australian Aboriginal cultures. Series creator Ryan Griffen describes the Cleverman as "like the Pope of the Dreamtime ... the conduit between the present and the Dreaming". The version in the television series combines many Cleverman traditions from different Aboriginal clans to create a superheroic version, with powers relating to the Dreaming's connection to past, present and future.
The Hairypeople or "Hairies" are designed by Jacob ("Jake") Nash, production designer for the Australian Aboriginal Bangarra Dance Theatre, and realised by the Weta Workshop, known for their work on The Lord of The Rings and other fantasy and science fiction films. The Hairypeople in Cleverman are inspired by Australian Aboriginal mythology of hairymen drawn from multiple Aboriginal peoples, including the Gamilaraay and Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales. In the series, they speak Kumbainggar, another language from northern New South Wales.
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