First Nations Film Festival: Saturday 11 July 2026
Description
Welcome to Saturdays information
Fridays screening of 'Wolfram' and 'Nhandi' available here
Sundays screening of 'Journey Home David Gulpillil', and 'The Secret Waterhole' available here
Saturday 11th July: First Nations Film Festival on Dharawal Country
Short Film GANIBARRA is an Indigenous-led documentary centred on Sonya Takau, a Jirrbal woman and cultural knowledge-holder from Far North Queensland, and her lifelong relationship with dingoes as kin, totem, and teacher. Through Sonya’s personal story, the documentary explores the deep cultural, spiritual, and ecological connections between First Nations people and dingoes, set against contemporary tensions surrounding wildlife management, conservation policy, and cultural survival.
Q&A with Co Producer and Director of Photography Jess Milne.
Feature Documentary YURLU COUNTRY (PG) is a critically acclaimed 2025 Australian documentary co-created by Walkley Award-winning filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem and the late Banjima Elder Maitland Parker. The film follows Parker’s final year fighting to heal his ancestral lands in the Pilbara region, which were heavily contaminated by the deadly Wittenoom asbestos disaster.
Q&A with Yaara Bou Melhem (Writer, Prod, Dir) and Tom Bannigan (DOP, Co-Producer).
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
GANIBARRA (Short Film)
Ganibarra is an Indigenous-led documentary centred on Sonya Takau, a Jirrbal woman and cultural knowledge-holder from Far North Queensland, and her lifelong relationship with dingoes as kin, totem, and teacher. Through Sonya’s personal story, the documentary explores the deep cultural, spiritual, and ecological connections between First Nations people and dingoes, set against contemporary tensions surrounding wildlife management, conservation policy, and cultural survival. Blending intimate interviews, observational moments on Country, family history, youth education, and present-day advocacy, Gunibarra examines the parallel survival of dingoes and First Nations culture. As dingoes continue to be misunderstood, controlled, and culled, the film asks what is lost when cultural knowledge systems are sidelined and what might be regained by listening to those who have cared for Country for generations. Grounded in lived experience and cultural authority, Gunibarra is a character-driven documentary that uses Sonya’s journey to illuminate broader questions of responsibility, intergenerational knowledge, and environmental stewardship. Visually cinematic and emotionally grounded, the film offers a First Nations perspective on coexistence, resilience, and the enduring relationship between people, animals, and land. Q&A with Co Producer and Director Of Photography Jess Milne
YURLU | COUNTRY (PG)
A vivid ode to Country and an intimate portrait of an Aboriginal elder’s final year as he strives to preserve his culture and heal his homeland, scarred by the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere. Banjima Elder, Maitland Parker, calls his Yurlu (homelands) “Poison Country” – a haunting, toxic truth etched into his body. Set against the breathtaking yet contaminated landscapes of Western Australia’s Pilbara region, YURLU | COUNTRY lays bare the devastating impact of the Wittenoom asbestos mines, where millions of tonnes of waste laced with deadly asbestos fibres have poisoned both land and people. It’s Australia’s largely unknown Chernobyl-scale disaster and it’s on Banjima lands. As Maitland battles mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure, his resolve to fight for his homeland and future generations only strengthens. Through striking cinematography and deeply personal storytelling, the film stands as a testament to the resilience of Banjima and their unbreakable bond with Country. Maitland and his family’s fight for justice, cultural survival, and environmental restoration will inspire, enrage, and catalyse. This is Maitland’s legacy. YURLU | COUNTRY will honour and immortalise it.
Gallery
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