Last night, I attended opening night of the inaugural First Nations Film Festival held by Screen Illawarra at the Gala Cinema in Warrawong to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
The evening started a little late as it turned out more people bought tickets than could be accommodated in the smaller of the two theatres so there was a slight delay as organisers waited for the larger theatre to become available.
Screen Illawarra Chair Nick Bolton kicked things off and introduced Uncle Richard for a stirring Welcome to Country, followed by a screening of Nhandi, a 15 minute film created by the Tides Project.
Nhandi is a poetic imagining of the first contact between First Nations people of the Illawarra with white people in the 18th century. It’s narrated by a large cast of young indigenous Illawarra locals who are visible on the screen and each deliver a single line, accompanied by some animated versions of old illustrations and translations of worsd in the local language into English and vice versa.
It’s a remarkably effective technique, connecting young indigenous Illawarrans of today to their ancestors who tried to welcome the newcomers but were rebuffed, removed from their lands, ravaged by new diseases, and murdered.
It also vividly shows that the vibrant local language has survived, and will continue to survive. That it was shot in black & white is both visually effective and lends another layer of meaning.
A beautiful piece of work, you can watch the film in full on its YouTube page.
Nhandi was followed by a short Q&A with one of the actors and Jodi Edwards of the University of Wollongong. Many people gave their reactions to the film, asked pertinent questions, and commented how they had never heard these specific stories before nor knew the beautful language – which was precisely what Uncle Richard referred to in his Welcome, that we need these projects to tell First Nations stories and help keep the language alive.
Nick then introduced Anousha Zarkesh, casting director for the film to follow and an Austinmer local since at least 2009 when Hazel and I met her and her husband, actor David Field.
Anousha is one of those people who people who watch movie credits will have seen on many Australian films in her 25 year career, during which she has “discovered” some now very well-known actors. She spoke of the special excitement of finding indigenous talent, many of whom have never acted before (like Aswan Reid in The New Boy, who won an AACTA Best Lead Actor award for his first role).
Then it was time for Wolfram, the 2025 film directed by Warwick Thornton on which Anousha worked.
Thornton is a rightly celebrated indigenous film-maker – director, cinematographer, screenwriter – who has became world famous for his festival award winning films like Samson and Delilah and Sweet Country.
Wolfram is actually a sequel of sorts to the latter, featuring some of the same characters and actors. It’s what is sometimes described as a “meat pie western” (as opposed to a “spaghetti western”), that is it looks, sounds, and feels like a classic western but it’s set in Australia.
In this case, Wolfram is set in the 1930s Northern Territory, based on true events of the time that involved young First Nations people being fotrced into slave labour for dangerous tungsten mining operations (tungsten is also called wolfram, which is why its chemical elements symbol is W).
The story follows the indigenous teenager Philomac (a child in Sweet Country) who flees his deadbeat white father when two sadistic “friends” show up. Philomac hooks up with two younger children who are escaping a mining operation and the trio sets out with a donkey to find their freedom and a new life.
They are, of course, hunted by the white trio. They encounter a group of Aboriginals living native but they refuse to help when told the threesome is being chased by white men – because white people are trouble.
The three encounter a friendly Chinese uncle and nephew also engaged in mining, and are put to work in exchange for food. When the white trio comes to the camp, they realise they will have to flee.
All of this is intercut with scenes of an indigenous woman (played by Deborah Mailman, another Illawarra resident) and a Chinese man who, with a baby, are also travelling to get away from white culture. She cuts strands of her hair and entwines them with berries to leave as a kind of wayfinder for … someone.
Like all good westerns, there are plot twists and turns, supporting characters (including a gruff, kindly doctor), gunplay, horses, and a saloon. The white bad guys are particularly racist and cruel and some of the violence is close-up and graphic.
It won’t surprise anyone who knows Thornton’s work as a cinematographer that, despite the dirt, the bodies, the violence, and the incessant presence – both audible and visual – of millions fo flies, Wolfram is staggeringly beautiful.
His command of light and colour is masterful with panoramic vistas, rock formations, creeks, and ponds all shimmering to create a dazzling landscape. He knows how and when to use silhouettes for dramatic effect and he balances night and day in a way few film-makers can.
Wolfram is utterly rivetting, from its striking visuals, its sparse script, and its compelling performances to its intelligent conveying of indigenous experience. It’s worth seeing in a cinema if you can, just to indulge in a big screen with people around you concentrating, startling, gasping and chuckling.
The First Nations Film Festival continues tonight, Saturday 11 July, with Yurlu | Country and Ganibarra, and concludes on Sunday with Journey Home, David Gulpilil and The Secret Waterhole.