First Nations Film Festival Closing Night: Sunday 12th July 2026
Description
Closing Night: First Nations Film Festival on Dharawal Country
We're closing the inaugural First Nations Film Festival with two remarkable films that offer compelling First Nations perspective's on identity, connection, history and place.
Short Film THE SECRET WATERHOLE (G)
Guided by their Nan's map, three cousins set out to find a secret waterhole in order to fulfil a special request.
Followed by a unique take on a Q&A with Phil Crawford and the young Filmmakers!
Feature Documentary JOURNEY HOME, DAVID GULPILIL (PG)
When Australia’s most renowned Indigenous actor David Gulpilil passes away far from his Homeland, his family struggle against huge logistical challenges to fulfil his final wish, to bury him on his Homeland, over four and a half thousand kilometres away.
Everyone is welcome.
This Festival is possible with the support of Gawura, IAC, Screen NSW, Invest Wollongong and Culture Bank.
Screen Illawarra acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians and Elders of this land, the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation - past, present and emerging, and their continued spiritual and cultural connection to Country.
Lineup
Short Film: The Secret Waterhole (G)
Guided by their Nan's map, three cousins set out to find a secret waterhole in order to fulfil a special request. WRITER/CO-DIRECTOR Elias Rees is a proud Gomeroi, Warramungu, and Chilean man who grew up in the public housing estates of Berkeley, Wollongong. As a teenager, Elias starred in Beyond Empathy’s (BE) film Rites of Passage, which was broadcast on ABC 1 and earned a Special Jury Prize at the prestigious Warsaw Film Festival. Elias's talent led him to feature roles in ABC’s Redfern Now, the Sydney Film Festival short The Chuck In, and the feature film Around The Block, where he worked alongside iconic actors such as Jack Thompson and Christina Ricci. He also appeared in ABC’s Cleverman and BE’s children’s feature film Protection. A few years later, Elias transitioned from participant to professional, joining BE as an artist and community worker. His work focused on mentoring young people, integrating his personal journey as a proud Aboriginal man. Currently, Elias works with youth in Out of Home Care, where he continues to make a significant impact. Elias Rees is an emerging producer, writer, and community leader, and he also serves on the Beyond Empathy Board. In The Secret Waterhole, Elias collaborates once again with Phil Crawford, the project lead for many of the BE projects he participated in during his youth.
Journey Home, David Gulpilil (PG)
Before Australia’s most renowned Indigenous actor David Gulpilil passed away in South Australia in 2021, he made his family promise to lay him to rest on his Homeland of Gupulul in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. A Yolŋu man, David Gulpilil was an acclaimed actor who lived a tribal existence in Arnhem Land’s Arafura Swamp before starring in his first film ‘Walkabout’ which screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1971. He was the first Australian First Nations actor to blaze a trail internationally. David Gulpilil constantly navigated two worlds, yet the deeper side of his Yolŋu culture was rarely in the spotlight. As David Gulpilil journeys back to the place of his birth, we’re given rare insight into Yolŋu culture as his family take on the huge logistical challenge spanning over four and a half thousand kilometres by vehicles, planes, boats, on foot, and by helicopter, and across many months waiting for the right seasonal conditions. This final chapter of David Gulpilil’s incredible story, where ancestral Djan’kawu sisters are invoked to mark the spot for his grave, and clan leaders enact timeless song cycles to guide his spirit safely back to the place of its beginning, is a remarkable homecoming.
Gallery
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