Director widens vision as film bodies streamline
Rosalie Higson; 2/7/08
A one-off screening of 12 Canoes - a new film by Rolf de Heer and the Northern Territory community of Ramingining, of Ten Canoes fame - has marked a milestone in Australian filmmaking. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia became an autonomous statutory authority yesterday. The film authority Screen Australia was also established, merging the Australian Film Commission, Film Finance Corporation and Film Australia. At the NFSA in Canberra, opening celebrations included the premiere of 12 Canoes, a production from de Heer, web artist Molly Reynolds and elders from Ramingining, including actor David Gulpilil and Anthony Minigululu. De Heer and Gulpilil worked together on the acclaimed Ten Canoes, the first film made wholly in an Australian indigenous language. Made for release on the internet, 12 Canoes comprises a dozen shorts that portray the history, culture and homeland of the Yolngu people of the Arafura Swamp.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23955539-5013404,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Culture