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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lAustralia picks Aboriginal film for Oscar nodBy Pip Bulbeck 5 September 2006 - SYDNEY (Hollywood Reporter) - The first Australian film to be shot in an indigenous language, "Ten Canoes," will be Australia's entry for the 2007 Academy Awards in the foreign-language category. Rolf De Heer, who directed the film with Peter Djigirr, wrote the script in collaboration with the people of Ramingining, a community of Yolngu people in Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. It was shot in the local Ganalbingu language. The story follows a young man who covets one of the wives of his older brother. To teach him the proper way, tribal elders retell a story from the mythical past, a story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery, mayhem and revenge gone wrong. In its 10-week run here, "Ten Canoes" has so far tallied AUS$2.85 million ($2.2 million) at the Australian box office, the second-highest haul for a local film this year, behind "Jindabyne." It is set to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival this month. Source: Reuters
By Cathy Gallagher 14 July 2006 - After only two weeks in cinemas, Ten Canoes, the film by Rolf de Heer and the people of Ramingining, has taken over one million dollars at the Australian box office, it was announced by Palace Films today. Opening on 29 June on 30 screens, Ten Canoes had a week 1 screen average of $16,218, second only to Superman Returns. After the second weekend, in direct competition with the opening weekend of Pirates of the Caribbean 2, the Ten Canoes box office result recorded only a 3% drop, and by the end of the second week of release, the film achieved a box office result of $1,043,789. The film, shot in the remote Arafura Swamp in Central Arnhem Land, with a cast of indigenous non-professional actors, entirely in indigenous language has received wide critical acclaim - called “a revolution in Australian cinema” (Adelaide Advertiser), “fabulous” (The Australian), “great entertainment” (Brisbane Courier Mail), “stunning” (Sydney Morning Herald), “the most groundbreaking Australian film to date” (Rolling Stone) and “a must-see” (ABC At The Movies, Brisbane Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser). In hearing the news this morning writer/producer/director Rolf de Heer said: “During our collaboration in making this film, we, both cast and crew, found the material we were getting engaging, funny and, at times, almost miraculous. That audiences are as struck by it as we were is very gratifying to all of us." "This is a wonderful Australian film the FFC are proud to support, it is a film that gives the audience a window on the Australia we know so little about. We have a great belief in the film and feel confident that the success will continue to build from this impressive opening as audiences spread the word. Congratulations to Rolf and the team.” said Brian Rosen, Film Finance Corporation CEO. “Ten Canoes is a humorous and charming cinematic folk tale. Rolf de Heer and the team at Vertigo, together with the people of Ramingining are to be applauded for this marvelous collaboration, which is clearly engaging Australian and international audiences alike”, said SAFC CEO Helen Leake. Adelaide Film Festival Director Katrina Sedgwick said "Ten Canoes was the first feature to receive support through the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund - and we are so proud to have been able to contribute to what is a truly groundbreaking collaboration and work of art.” Acting General Manager of SBSi, Ned Lander said: “The success of Ten Canoes at the box office reaffirms that the Australian public truly wants to see unique Australian stories. SBS Independent is thrilled and honoured to have been part of this extraordinary production.” Ten Canoes had its World Premiere at the Adelaide Festival in March, was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in May and opened the Sydney Film Festival in June. A documentary about the making of Ten Canoes won the audience prize for Best Documentary in the Sydney Film Festival’s Sidebar Program, and will screen on SBS Television on 20 July. The Vertigo Productions/Fandango Australia production was financed by the Film Finance Corporation, the South Australian Film Corporation, the Adelaide Film Festival and SBS Independent, and supported by Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation. Distributed in Australia by Palace Films. Source: Westender Further reading David Gulpilil's tale of Ten canoes ABC Northern Territory: Reporter: Fiona Churchman, Presenter: Cherie Beach Next wet season a film crew will descend on the middle of Arnhem Land to take the next step - telling a traditional story in traditional language, Yolgnu Matha. The story is set 200 years ago before white people arrived in the area and will be directed by Rolf De Heer and David Gulpilil. Rolf De Heer says the idea just came to him. "I was pondering a couple of years ago when there were numbers of films with Indigenous themes and it seemed like a golden new era, and then of course nothing happens after that and I thought I wonder what the next step is, I wonder where one would go to from here and it struck me that it would be a great way to make a film and with David co-directing in his language and on his traditional land. "I just thought woah, woah, woah, there's an idea," he says. Rolf got stuck into making the idea a reality straight away and within days had flown to the Territory to speak to his future co-director. He says David loved the idea and it was his concept to bring in the ten canoes and the goosehead gathering that used to take place at the Arafura Swamp, which adjourn David's fathers traditional lands. "I think they have been looking for some time to restart that as a sort of semi-ceremonial thing as a traditional gathering activity I guess and it just all seemed to fit together and we began to work on it from that basis," says Rolf. Rolf says the Ten canoes story is a simple one, but told in a complex way. "It is a story that is told from the point of view of 200 years ago about mythical times and it has resonances for their current activities at that time, so its sort of a story in the form of a story being told," says Rolf. Rolf says Ramingining is cautious about being excited about this project
because so much is promised so often and "This process of making a film of course is a very lengthy one and they are cautiously optimistic but the proof will be in the pudding when we actually do it," he says. He says they are trying to broaden it out so it isn't a case of a film crew arriving, filming and then leaving. "We going to try and work with as small an introduced crew as possible, use as many locals as possible...also we have a mini documentary project with the school teaching the kids to make documentarys and then getting them to make mini docs about some of the aspects of cultural renewal that will inevitably take place as a consequence of having to make the film. "There's a new media project, website, cultural journey throught the Arafura Swamp that's just starting up as well that hopefully will get good involvement from the arts centre there and from some of the painters and so on," he says. The Arafura Swamp may be a spectacular part of the world, but it could make filming a movie a little difficult. They'll be shooting just after the wet season so that the swamp has water in it and the magpie geese are there it's about the worst time of the year for mosquitoes. Rolf is also a little concerned about crocodiles. "The times when I've been there the numbers of crocodiles that I've seen is enough to frighten anybody off, but I think we'll handle it!" he says. There are a few aspects of telling a story in Yolgnu which Rolf is also yet to work out. "I couldn't do it without David and David couldn't do it without me, and it will be a collaboration where we are both relying on each other a great deal. "I think that what will happen is that largely there will be a close interface between the two of us with each of us specialising in a slightly different area but haven't input into each others area." David Gulpilil will star in the film and the rest of the roles will be filled by Maningrida locals. The film will also be partly shot in black and white and in colour. It sounds like a once in a lifetime event for Rolf, and he says he'll allow himself to get excited once he finishes shooting,"Up until then there's a lot of problem solving to be done, and how to structure it in such a way that we get good material with the money that we've got". Source: ABC Northern Territory related links :
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