First Nations Films in the Valley

Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley is proud to launch NAIDOC week 2026 with a Sunday afternoon of First Nations films and conversation with film makers.

In the feature documentary Occupation: Native (2017 - 52 mins), First Nations filmmaker Trisha Morton-Thomas uses sharp satire to explore Australian history from an Indigenous perspective. The film's premise and title stem from the moment she first saw her own birth certificate at age 18, which listed her mother's occupation simply as "native" (see trailer below)

Two short films produced and filmed in the Shoalhaven will also be screened. Nhandi  is a poetic short film told through story, language, and place. Nhandi is based on oral history and written sources and imagines the first encounters between Aboriginal people of the Illawarra coast and the newcomers who arrived by sea. It is part of the TIDES film series, films made by young people from Warrawong that ask, “How did we get here?”

The Rock is an intergenerational short film co-directed by young Indigenous storyteller Luke McLeod-Ebsworth (also known as Luke McLeod) and Jamie Lepre. Produced by the Shoalhaven First Nations Film Festival (SFNFF), it is based on a story told to Luke by his grandfather, the First Nations activist and poet Bobby McLeod.

Afternoon tea will be available.