Wanja

"The Block" is a neighbourhood consisting of five streets in downtown Sydney that has been a gathering place for Aboriginals for generations. Since the early 1980s, the area has rapidly deteriorated: it suffers from dire poverty, many houses are vacant, and the police are constantly on patrol there. According to the epilogue, "The community has been demoralised through mismanagement and government neglect."
The film introduces the neighbourhood residents, and we quickly learn from the interviews that the authorities have very little respect for the Aboriginals. One of the residents is Aunty Barb Stacey, who used to own a cattle dog named Wanja. Wanja was a full member of the community and died in 2003. He seems to represent the soul of the urban Aboriginals. It's the people who live mostly in the street, who don't really enjoy life and feel shut out from the pleasures of prosperous Sydney. The interviews alternate with images of the neighbourhood, which underline the sad tenor of the film. The soundtrack is a combination of melancholic guitar chords, passing trains and various street noises.