For several months in 1971 Dundiwuy Wanambi and his wife, Gunapa, were living in a temporary shade at Yirrkala. They were awaiting the ritual cleansing and opening of their house. They had had to leave their house after the death of Gunapa's father, who had been living with them when he died. Now Dundiwuy has asked for his house to be ritually opened so he can move back into it.. This film is a record of the first part of the opening ceremony. It...

Shot almost entirely in ‘Kelly Country’, near the country town of Benalla, The Glenrowan Affair takes us back to the era of Victoria’s most notorious bushranger, showcasing thrilling action sequences and horsemanship as time and again the Kelly Gang outwit the law. The film begins with old timer, Dinny (some say he knows too much for an outsider) telling the story of the Kelly Gang to a visiting sketch artist.. His tale unfolds as Ned Kelly...

One of the most positive aspects of traditional Aboriginal Australia today is the outstation or clan homeland movement. Throughout central and northern Australia, groups have left the large centralised government settlements and church mission stations to form small communities on their own land.. Yirrkala, in northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, used to be a church mission station and is now an Aboriginal township. Today it is one of...

An archival record film of life at the small Madarrpa clan settlement of Bäniyala on Blue Mud Bay, some 200 kilometres south of Yirrkala. The film is in two parts.. The first part covers everyday events at Bäniyala. The settlement's first corrugated iron house is built. A water resources team discuss their problem of trying to find a site for a fresh water bore with clan head Wakuthi Marawili and his son Miniyawany. We see the little school, a plane...

Enter the fun and mayhem of the Puckeridge family - mum, dad and five very active children aged two to ten.. Life in this household is a constant juggling act, as Sally and Dave negotiate with their kids over food, haircuts, baths and bed, and with each other over school and religion. These are familiar scenes of bills, endless washing, weekend sports, the frenetic noise of games, the strange quiet of sleep.. Dave leaves for work at six in the morning,...

Daymbalipu Mununggurr was one of the most respected and influential leaders of the Yirrkala Aboriginal community. This film deals with his concerns during the tumultuous years when the Nabalco bauxite mine first came to the Gove Peninsula. In particular the film shows the quiet but strong way he communicated with the people who came to the area as a result of the mining project.. The film is made up of four discrete sequences shot in 1971 and 1974....

“Woman like she refuses to divulge the name of him who wronged her.”. This 1918 Australian feature is one of the most significant surviving treasures of a silent film heritage which is now largely extinct. Comprising three interconnecting storylines, it finally resolves into a dramatic saga of love, honour, betrayal, seduction and revenge.. The story takes the concept of primitive justice – an eye for an eye – and extends it to ‘a sister...

In 1978 Narritjin Maymuru and his son Banapana were awarded fellowships as Visiting Artists to the Faculty of Arts at the Australian National University in Canberra. For three months they and their families worked in their campus studio.. In the film, Narritjin conducts a seminar for anthropology students. He explains his technique of bark painting and discusses some of the meanings behind the paintings.. At the end of their stay in Canberra, Narritjin...

A religious order in the heart of Melbourne moves from St Francis monastery into a pub during renovations. Father Donald Cave, however, moves to his former home to write a book on the order’s founder, while Brother Bernard, at the age of 100, is too old to stay at the pub and must be cared for elsewhere. Father Ken Boland, in charge of the building works, vents his opposition to the renovations. Brother Gerard Develin parts with his pet budgie for...

Paintings, together with their related songs, dances and ritual events, form an integral part of the religious life of the Yolngu people of Northeast Arnhem Land. Every painting or design is owned by a particular clan. Every painting tells of events in a clan’s Ancestral Past, when the present order of the universe was laid down and each clan was given its land, language and customs. Every painting is, in a way, a map of a particular area of clan...