Press release from Museum Victoria.
The Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival showcases Indigenous films celebrating the depth and diversity of Indigenous culture and artists. Developed by Blackfella Films, it is the only festival in the country that is solely committed to presenting films made by and about Indigenous people and all screenings are free.
“Indigenous storytellers continue to surprise and move us with extraordinary stories from the cities and the bush,” said Rachel Perkins, Black Fella Films. “From traditional dreamtime tales to the challenges of contemporary Indigenous life, our filmmakers give an insider view of what it means to be a Black Australian in the twenty first century. Message Sticks reaches out to audiences everywhere”.
The festival will be launched in Melbourne with Beck Cole’s debut feature Here I am, which tells the story of Karen, a young women trying to overcome her dark past and turn her life around. After being released from prison, Karen embarks on the difficult journey of reconnecting with her estranged mother and daughter, discovering that sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself. The film was shot by Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah) and marks the return of Professor Marcia Langton to the screen.
Premiering in Australia as part of the festival is On the Ice, the award-winning, debut feature film directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean from the Inuit Nation. The film follows two teenage boys from an isolated Alaskan town who are involved with a tragic accident on a seal hunt. Bonded by their dark secret, the two boys are forced to create one fabrication after another in order to survive. On the Ice won the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
A number of documentaries are part of the festival including Shifting Shelter 4 from acclaimed film maker Ivan Sen, who has recently had his film Toomelah selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Shifting Shelter 4 is the latest instalment in a documentary series following the lives of four young Aboriginal people living in rural New South Wales.
The short films Tales From the Daly – ‘Nauiyu Nambiyu’ directed by Steven McGregor and Crookhart and the Kulinada directed by David Tranter will be presented as a double feature. In Tales From the Daly – ‘Nauiyu Nambiyu’ McGregor takes us on a cinematic journey exploring the lives and country of people who call this region home. Crookhart and the Kulunada documents Dreamtime stories of the Rainbow Serpent, Kulunada, and the violent past of the white settlement of the area as told by three old men out in the desert.
A documentary from Mexico, And The River Also Flows On, directed by Carlos Pérez Rojas tells of the struggles of the local Indigenous population against La Parota dam and hydroelectric complex on the Papagayo River.
A series of short films completes the extensive line up at the 2011 Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival.
Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival
Presented by Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre
20 to 22 May 2011.
All films FREE